In a reviving bid, Jet Airways hires former CEO of SriLankan Airlines

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SriLankan Airlines Vipula Gunatilleka has joined Jet Airways as a Chief Financial Officer in an effort to revive the grounded carrier.

Jalan Kalrock consortium, the new promotor of Jet Airways, has appointed Gunatilleka as the CFO from March 1, 2022. He is known as a turnaround specialist in the aviation sector.

The Airlines has issued a statement in which it said that Gunatilleka has had the most daunting task of leading SriLankan Airlines during the pandemic.

“Mr Gunatilleka was head hunted by the board in 2018 to re-structure SriLankan Airlines and in less than two years after assuming the duties as the CEO, the airline recorded positive EBITDA and cash flow for 2019-20 notwithstanding the devastating effects of the terror attacks in April 2019 in Sri Lanka followed by the global pandemic in early 2020,” the Airlines said.

It added, “We are excited to welcome Mr Vipula Gunatilleka to our young and energic team. Vipula is an aviation expert and regarded as a turnaround specialist in the industry. He has been shortlisted after a rigorous process run by our executive team over the last several months. I am certain Vipula will be an asset to the organization and will provide the necessary vision to revive the operations of Jet Airways as per the plans of the consortium.”

Gunatilleka said that he is very excited to join the company and he looks forward to contributing his knowledge of the last 30 years in Jet Airways' resurgence in its new avatar.

“We will capitalise on the strong brand value which Jet Airways has in the market and use it to re-build the lost ground," he said.