Sanjiv Kapoor, CEO-designate of grounded airline Jet Airways, has resigned from the company even as an impasse between lenders and Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) remains unresolved. However, JKC said in a statement that the revival plans for the airline remains on track and a new CEO will be announced soon.

Kapoor’s resignation comes two weeks prior to the 180-day period provided by a bankruptcy court to the JKC for making payments to creditors and employees.

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Kapoor, a US citizen, was roped in by JKC a little over a year ago to revive the airline that ceased operations in 2019.

In an official release, the JKC said, “Jalan-Kalrock remains fully committed to the revival of Jet Airways, and the Executive Committee of JKC will oversee CEO-designate responsibilities until a suitable replacement is in place.”

Ankit Jalan, board member, JKC, said, “Sanjiv joined us to spearhead the revival of Jet Airways, drove the business and launch plan as we prepared to restart the commercial operations. JKC will be announcing the new CEO for Jet Airways shortly.”

Kapoor, whose final working day will be May 1, said, “I am proud of the ground-breaking business plan we put together and the progress we made though regrettably, the restart of operations could not happen as planned in 2022. I am a firm believer in the tremendous value that can be created by full-service carriers such as Jet Airways following bankruptcy restructuring.”

Kapoor was named the CEO of Jet Airways on April 4, 2022, a month before the airline got its Air Operator’s Permit (AOP) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – a crucial regulatory requirement which was to become the basis for getting the full-service carrier back in the air.

While JKC’s plans were to start commercial operations starting with the sale of tickets in early November 2022, reluctance by the airline’s creditors to hand over the ownership of the airline to the winning bidder led to an impasse that stretched over several months.

Banks claimed that JKC failed to meet conditions precedent agreed to under the resolution plan submitted by it. Jet Airways ceased operations in April 2019. Subsequently, the case went to NCLT.

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Jalan added that the revival of Jet Airways is through a court-approved process, which has taken more time than originally estimated, but JKC is committed to the revival of Jet Airways.

JKC is in the last leg of closing the transfer of ownership of Jet Airways. “Subsequent to which we will settle outstanding amounts payable to previous creditors as per our approved resolution plan and shall, soon thereafter, recommence the commercial operations of Jet Airways as per our re-launch plans,” Jalan added.

While Kapoor is among the last of the senior executives to leave the airline, his decision to quit follows the resignations by most of the staff of Jet Airway’s 2.0. In the past week alone, senior employees such as the company secretary, accountable manager and chief security officer put in their papers.

Jet’s head of flight operations, director of flight safety and director of training had quit a few months ago. Its vice president of airport services and head of ground operations are believed to be still there, according to a source.

A few months ago, a letter was sent to Kapoor by resolution professional Ashish Chhawchharia asking him to refrain from calling himself the ‘CEO of Jet Airways’ while also asking him to avoid making statements on behalf of the carrier. This prompted JKC to clarify that Kapoor is the CEO-designate of the airline.

A travel industry veteran, Kapoor’s previous stint in the airline industry was with Vistara where he was the chief strategy and commercial officer. Prior to joining the Tata-SIA airline, Kapoor was the chief operating officer at SpiceJet. He had briefly worked with the luxury hotel chain Oberoi Hotels & Resorts as president. Kapoor is an MBA from Wharton School.