NEW DELHI: The revival of Jet Airways 2.0 has faced a major setback as the grounded airline’s CEO-designate Sanjiv Kapoor has quit the airline. The aviation veteran who joined Jet Airways as its chief executive officer (CEO) on April 4, 2022, will serve the airline till May 1, 2023.
While the revival of Jet, which was grounded in April 2019, was never very certain, the chances that it will fly again are getting slimmer day by day amid resignations in top management and a never-ending issue with lenders. “Sanjiv Kapoor, chief executive officer-designate for Jet Airways, is departing the company effective Monday, May 1, on the conclusion of his notice period”, said Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC) in a statement on Friday.
JKC added that they remain fully committed to the revival of Jet Airways, and the Executive Committee of JKC will oversee CEO-designate responsibilities until a suitable replacement is in place. Ankit Jalan, Board Member - JKC, said: “The revival of Jet Airways is through a court-approved process, which has taken more time than originally estimated by us, but needless to say JKC is committed to the revival of Jet Airways.”
He added that they are in the last leg of closing the transfer of ownership of Jet to JKC, subsequent to which they would settle outstanding amounts payable to previous creditors as per the approved Resolution Plan. After this, they will recommence the commercial operations of the airline as per the re-launch plans, added Jalan.
However, sector experts and some officials at the civil aviation ministry have doubts about the revival. Most experts believe problems with Jet are way too many and the departure of Kapoor may prove to be the final nail in the coffin.
“They don’t have planes, their top executives have left the sinking ship and the lenders are not willing to transfer the ownership…It will take months if not years to resolve the issues…I have started feeling it is a lost cause now,” said a senior analyst at a consultancy firm. On his departure, Kapoor said, “I am a firm believer in the tremendous value that can be created by full-service carriers such as Jet Airways following bankruptcy re-structuring.”