Ajith Dias, the chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka’s national carrier and six directors of the board have offered to resign in support of the government’s restructuring plan.
The chairman told the local media that he and six other directors have tendered their resignation letters in support of the government’s restructuring initiative of Airline.
The Government has appointed a Ministerial Subcommittee under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and a top level official committee headed by Treasury Secretary Dr. R. H. S. Samaratunga to recommend the strategy to revive the loss-making national carrier which is currently facing major challenges.
When the ministerial committee appointed to look into the restructuring of the Airline held discussions last Wednesday the international consultant to look into the matter submitted its restructuring plan to the committee.
It has been suggested at the meeting that a new board of directors should be appointed to restructure the airline.
Mr. Dias said accordingly, he and six other directors of the seven-member director board have resigned and the only Harendra Balapatabendi is remaining in the board.
He stated that the Board of Directors offered their resignation letters immediately the day following discussions with the committee headed by the Prime Minister.
Mr. Dias said they have tendered their resignation letters to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who heads the ministerial committee on restructuring SriLankan Airlines.
The two committees were also tasked with the selection of a suitable strategic partner and investor to operate the national carrier.
SriLankan has been able to earn a net profit of Rs.4.4 billion during the management of the airline by Emirates Airlines at the time. However, in 2008 the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa removed Emirates Airline CEO Peter Hill and redeemed 40% of its stake. The management agreement between Emirates and SriLankan Airlines ended in 2008.
After the termination of Emirates management, the national carrier incurred losses and the loss for the airline from 2008 to 2014 was Rs 107 billion.
