News Backgrounder
Tenure of Jet Airways CEO uncertain
May 1st 2016
Who’s next, Naresh?” is often asked of the Jet Airways chairman when he is in India following CEO Cramer Ball’s February departure from Jet Airways, the airline Goyal founded in 1992. Read More »
Etihad Airways has a 24% equity in Jet and Cramer Ball is a protégé of Etihad boss, James Hogan. When Ball tendered his resignation to the Jet board on December 17, Gaurang Shetty, an 17-year veteran of the airline with 35 years of experience in aviation was named as the intended acting CEO. Shetty never made it to the CEO suite. Instead, Amit Agarwal, Jet’s chief financial officer, was appointed interim CEO on March 1.
Now Agarwal’s days as CEO appear numbered given that Mumbai-based Jet is searching for a new leader. Counting Shetty’s ‘non-tenure’, whoever gets the top job next time around will be the airline’s seventh CEO in just under three years.
Cramer Ball has succeeded Silvano Cassano as chief of ailing Alitalia, a carrier, like Jet, that has Etihad as a large minority investor. Orient Aviation learned from Jet Airways that Ball’s decision to leave the carrier was personal. He is married to an Italian and Ball and his family wanted to be based in Italy.
Top management changes appear to be par for the course since Etihad bought into the Indian airline in 2013. In May 2014, Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, then Jet’s CEO and CFO quit. He had taken over from Garry Toomey, who was brought in after Naresh Goyal’s long-term confidante, Niko Kardassis, resigned following disputes about the Etihad deal.
Naresh Goyal, 66, Jet’s chairman, does not live in India, typically dividing his time between the U.K. and Dubai, and Mumbai as required.
Jet is under pressure to perform after an eight-year losing streak. However, there is ground for optimism. Under Ball, Jet reported three quarterly profits in the last financial year. It is expected to post a net profit in the 8.2-8.6 billion rupees range ($123-129 million) for the year to March 31, added by the low fuel price.
The carrier’s results will be announced on May 26. The market talk is that Etihad is considering increasing its shareholding in Jet to 49%.
