Sanjiv Kapoor, CEO designate of grounded airlines Jet Airways, has resigned from his post, a report in Money Control said. The resignation of Kapoor, who had joined Jet Airways on April 4, 2022, comes as the airline struggles to restart operations.
Kapoor previously worked with Oberoi Group as President. He had also worked at Vistara and SpiceJet in the past. He is an alumnus of La Martiniere School in Kolkata, with an MBA from Wharton (University of Pennysylvania).
In March, PTI quoted Kapoor as saying that the new management does not want to be “in a rush” to restart operations while asserting that the airline would be unique and different after relaunch.
Kapoor’s departure comes on the heels of the resignations of accountable manager PP Singh and company secretary Neeraj Manchanda earlier this week.
The development comes as the ownership transfer of the airline under the insolvency resolution plan is facing hurdles over differences between the winning bidder and lenders.
Earlier this year, the management committee of Jet Airways had announced that Sanjiv Kapoor would remain the CEO-designate of the company till the airline’s ownership was transferred to the consortium.
Jet Airways has been grounded since 2019 due to financial issues. A State Bank of India-led insolvency process is yet to reach a solution.
In October 2020, the airline’s Committee of Creditors (CoC) approved the revival plan submitted by a consortium of Dubai-based Murari Lal Jalan and the UK’s Kalrock Capital.
In June 2021, the consortium’s bid was approved under the insolvency resolution process. However, the implementation of the plan is getting delayed.
Relaunch of the grounded Jet airways is awaited after it received the air operator certificate from the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in May 2022.
Amid a lack of clarity over relaunch of Jet Airways, many of its pilots and senior executives are said to have left, IANS reported. Last year, IANS reported that Jet Airways had temporarily cut salaries of a section of staff and also sent many on leave without pay.