3 months in office, JetLite CEO to quit

Mumbai: Three months after joining the budget carrier JetLite, Finnish CEO Maunu von Lueders plans to quit the organization at a time when its parent Jet Airways intends to merge the back-end operations to cut costs.
Lueders took charge of the wholly-owned subsidiary on April 5 this year after the contract of its CEO of three years Garry Kingshott came to an end.
The exact date of his departure is, however, not known. It's not clear whether JetLite would have another expat as a CEO or continue with the chief operating officer Rajeev Gupta for the time-being.
The airline has pulled out a total of 26 flights, including some flight operations to metros such as Delhi and Mumbai. It has also postponed the launch of its international operations due to the high fuel costs.
Lueders may have found this management move not exactly to his liking after spending 40 years in the aviation business and taking on the challenge of establishing a low-cost carrier in Scandinavia, insiders say.
In a text reply to a query, Lueders confirmed his exit from the airline and said, "...I will not be leaving because of some other jobs. The integration between JetLite and Jet Airways is almost complete, which means that my job is done."
It is not clear whether the management decided to do away with two heavyweights to operate JetLite on its own terms as a merged entity, though the airline would still have a different face on the front end.
17/07/08 Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

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Categories: JetLite Jul 2008