Former CEO Of SriLankan Airlines Vipula Gunatilleka Appointed Chief Financial Officer Of Jet Airways

Gunatilleka, who till last month, was the CEO of SriLankan Airlines, will join Jet Airways from March 1, 2022 onwards

Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, promoters of Jet Airways, has given the task to Vipula Gunatilleka of reviving the grounded carrier. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Vipula Gunatilleka, former chief exective officer (CEO) of SriLankan Airlines, has been named as the chief financial officer (CFO) of Jet Airways.

Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, promoters of Jet Airways, has given the task to Gunatilleka of reviving the grounded carrier.

Gunatilleka, who till last month, was the CEO of SriLankan Airlines, will join Jet Airways from March 1, 2022 onwards.

Gunatilleka, who is considered as a “turnaround specialist” and an aviation expert, had overseen “the most daunting task of leading SriLankan Airlines during the pandemic.

Jet Airways in a statement said, “He was head hunted by the board in 2018 to restructure SriLankan Airlines and in less than two years after assuming charge 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.”

As a result of key initiatives introduced to improve the service standards and operational efficiencies, the SriLankan Airline was accredited with the ‘World’s Most Punctual Airline’ twice in 2019, the statement added.

Prior to joining SriLankan Airlines, Gunatilleka was the CFO and board member of TAAG Angola Airlines from November 2015 to July 2018 under Emirates Management. He played a pivotal role to turnaround the loss-making national carrier of Angola.

Ankit Jalan, member of the monitoring committee of Jet Airways and part of Jalan-Kalrock Consortium, said, “We are excited to welcome Vipula Gunatilleka to our young and energetic 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, “I am very excited to join the company and I look forward to contributing my knowledge of 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.”