Jet Airways CEO-Designate Sanjiv Kapoor Resigns As End Date For Flying Licence Nears

Jet Airways (India) Ltd.'s CEO-designate Sanjiv Kapoor has announced his resignation on Friday, days before the company's air operator certificate was set to expire.

Kapoor was one of the last remaining senior executives at the grounded airline. He will depart on Monday. The Company Secretary and Compliance Officer Neeraj Manchanda quit on Tuesday.

The Jalan-Karlock Consortium, the winning bidder for the airline in the bankruptcy proceedings, said in a statement that its executive committee would oversee CEO-designate responsibilities till it found a suitable replacement.

Ankit Jalan, board member of the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, 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."

Jalan said the group is in the last leg of closing the transfer of ownership of Jet Airways to JKC, subsequent to which it would settle outstanding amounts payable to previous creditors, as per the resolution plan.

Soon thereafter, it will recommence the commercial operations of Jet Airways according to relaunch plans, he said.

Jet Airways was grounded in 2019 amid mounting debt and was set to make a comeback after the consortium won the bid to operate it in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Kapoor was appointed CEO-designate over a year ago to oversee the airline's ownership transfer to a consortium of Dubai-based Murari Lal Jalan and U.K.'s Kalrock Capital.

"I am proud of the groundbreaking business plan we put together and the progress we made, though regrettably, the restart of operations could not happen as planned in 2022," Kapoor said in a statement. "Consumers in a market as large as India need a choice of full-service carriers, and I look forward to seeing Jet Airways back in the skies again soon!"

The airline received its air operator certificate in May last year, but a conflict related to pending payments between the lender and the Jalan-Kalrock consortium has led to consistent delays in operations.

The air operator certificate is set to expire on May 19 as the airline has failed to operationalise nearly one year after it was given the commercial licence to fly.