Dubai
India’s Jet Airways reported its biggest ever quarterly loss of $366.5 million on Tuesday as it announced the appointment of a former Etihad executive as its new CEO.
The standalone net loss is for the fourth fiscal quarter that ended March 31. It a reported a $84 million loss for the same period a year earlier.
The record loss was attributed to higher fuel costs and taxes with high competition restricting fare increases for India carriers.
The airline, which sold a 24 per cent stake to Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways last year, also announced that Cramer Ball, the former Air Seychelles chief executive, has taken out the top job. Ball previously worked for Etihad Airways before joining Air Seychelles.
Speculation rose earlier this year that Ball would replace fellow Australian Gary Toomey, the former Air New Zealand executive, who resigned from Jet Airways in January. Ball stepped down from Air Seychelles just days after Toomey left the India job.
Etihad stake purchase in Jet was the first foreign investment into the sector after the government eased restrictions.
