Its interim CEO is stepping down months before Jet Airways India Ltd. was to reopen its doors.

Sudhir Gaur, Jet Airways’ acting CEO, quit months before the airline’s planned restart. Priyapal Singh has been named as the carrier’s stand-in manager in his absence.

Sudhir Gaur was named vice president of operations in July 2021 and later recognised as the carrier’s accountable manager, according to a late Wednesday exchange filing. In most circumstances, a responsible manager is the chief executive officer, who has the ability to guarantee that activities agreed by the organisation are financed and implemented to the standards needed by the aviation regulator.

The reason for his abrupt resignation from the airline is unknown. Mr Gaur was also the vice president of Jet Airways’ operations. After a resolution plan was agreed last year, Jet Airways is slated to restart operations in 2022, almost two years after it was grounded owing to a financial problem in April 2019.

The Jalan Kalrock Consortium announced on September 13 of last year that it will resume operations with a New Delhi – Mumbai flight. The Consortium had stated that it hoped to resume short-haul international operations by the third or fourth quarters of 2022.

Murari Lal Jalan, lead member of the consortium and proposed promoter and Non-Executive Chairman of Jet Airways said in the recovery plan that they intend to have more than 50 aircraft in three years and more than 100 in five years.Jalan continued, “The Consortium is ready with its investments, and given the progress the team has made operationally since NCLT Approval in June 2021, we feel it is time to fund the company immediately for the revival of the business, without delay”.

 On June 22, 2021, the NCLT adopted the Kalrock-Jalan resolution proposal. From June 22, the NCLT’s Mumbai bench gave the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) 90 days to assign slots to Jet Airways.

While Gaur’s departure is considered as a blow to the campaign, captain P P Singh is all set to replace the interim CEO.  Singh was formerly the senior vice president of operations of Jet Lite, a Jet Airways subsidiary. He most recently worked for Nepal Airlines as an inspector for A-330 planes.