Jet Airways interim chief executive Sudhir Gaur has resigned; the reasons for his exit remain unclear. Gaur’s departure comes at a crucial time for Indian aviation with new airlines such as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa gearing up to launch operations.
The timing of Guar’s exit is interesting given the Naresh Goyal-founded airline is set to make a comeback in 2022, after two years of being grounded owing to a financial crisis.
PP Singh, a former top official of the grounded the low-budget arm of Jet Airways, Jetlite, is tipped to head the airline which is likely to start operations in the months ahead, said reports.
The Jalan Kalrock consortium was given approval by NCLT last year to restart the airline in the first quarter of 2022. The new owners are yet to make an announcement regarding bringing in funds to restart operations.
The debt-laden airline, once India’s biggest private carrier, stopped flying in April 2019 after running out of cash, leaving thousands without jobs
It was recently reported that the newest entrant on the Indian aviatoin horizon Akasa may get its Air Operator Permit (AOP) as early as April and start flying before Jet Airways 2.0 does.
Akasa, registered as SNV Aviation, received its initial regulatory approval–the no-objection certificate (NOC)–on October 11 and has applied for the AOP.The airline, founded by Jet Airways’ former chief executive Vinay Dube, has also placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 Max planes. It subsequently ordered CFM engines to power the aircraft. Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo’s former president, is Akasa’s co-founder. Jet Airways’ flying licence, or AOP, was made dormant months after it stopped flying in April 2019. The airline’s new owners will have to reapply to get it activated.
