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Abdulrahman Albusaidy, chief strategy and planning officer at Jet Airways, and Mohammad Ali El Ariss, head of cargo, have quit. The reason is not known. Jet Airways did not respond to an email.
The exits come in the wake of the airline’s March quarter reporting a Rs 2,465 crore loss, its worst.
Albusaidy is a former Gulf Air executive and an old-timer with Jet Airways. An Omani national, he was on the board of Jet Airways between 1994 and 1997 when Gulf Air held a stake in the carrier. He was in-charge of the Gulf region and was brought back to Mumbai last year. El Ariss, a Lebanese national, joined Jet Airways in 2012 and was in-charge of its cargo business.
There have been seven high-profile exits, including the latest departures, from Jet Airways after Etihad Airways acquired a 24 per cent stake in the Indian airline. These include chief executive officer (CEO) Nikos Kardassis; vice-president (investor relations) K G Vishwanath and chief commercial officer Sudheer Raghavan.
Gary Toomey, former chief financial officer of Qantas Airways, who replaced Kardassis, left the airline within six months of taking charge. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, the airline’s chief financial officer who also officiated as the CEO in the interim, too, quit last month. The airline has now appointed Cramer Ball, a former chief executive from Air Seychelles. His appointment is, however, yet to be cleared by the home ministry.
The takeover also led to an administrative reshuffle, with Sonu Kripalani, who headed sales, being given the charge of guest experience. The airline has not appointed a chief for sales and commercial department. It is believed an Etihad executive would take up the post.
DEBOARDED
- Abdulrahman Albusaidy, chief strategy and planning officer
- Mohammad Ali El Ariss, head of cargo
