Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita exit Jet Airways

Rumour has it that the current Chief Executive Officer of the Jet Airways, Vinay Dube, is going to stay back with the airline and steer it out of the current crisis
Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita exit Jet Airways

New Delhi: Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and wife Anita Goyal announced their decision to leave the Jet Airways they founded nearly 25 years ago and step down from its board on Monday. Naresh also quit as the chairman of the debt-ridden airline. Lenders of Jet will now take over the company's board and management.

The news came out as a crucial board meeting took place in Mumbai. Rumour has it that the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline, Vinay Dube, is going to stay back with the airline and steer it out of the current crisis, a report by ET Now said.

The consortium of Jet's lenders may now invoke the entire 51 percent stake owned by Naresh in the airline and could start looking for a new buyer in the days to come.

Lenders look to rope in new names

According to sources, SBI managing director and former Jet Airways board member Srinivasan Vishvanathan maybe roped in to join the airline's top leadership. Vishvanathan has previously served as an Independent Director for nearly three years between 2015 and 2018.

Sources also said that the lenders are considering inviting former SBI Chairman & ex CVC Commissioner Janki Ballabh to the Jet board. Jet's second equity partner, Etihad, is expected to stay on the board for now. But it has plans to dilute its 24 percent stake in the airline in the future. After that happens, one of the two Etihad nominees on the Jet board will resign.

Shares surge

The Jet Airways shares surged earlier on Monday after the news of Naresh and Anita stepping down from the board emerged. Shares rose as much as 3.87 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 234.80 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). And on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Jet Airways shares jumped as much as 4.23 per cent to Rs 235.40, outperforming the NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex indexes which were trading around 1 per cent lower each.

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