Peter Luethi quits as Jet Airways COO

Luethi has decided not to renew his contract, which comes to an end in April this yea

BY A CORRESPONDENT
4th January 2005

Peter Luethi has quit as chief operating officer of Jet Airways, India's largest private sector airline. His contract with Jet Airways was due to end in April 2006. Said Saroj K Datta, executive director, Jet Airways: "Luethi has decided not to renew his contract, which comes to an end in April this year."

Due to intense shortage of talent in domestic aviation, Indian airline firms deploy expatriates on a large scale to bridge the gap. Heads of many of the big names in domestic aviation are from foreign shores. Jet Airways CEO is Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, another expat head. Former COO of Kingfisher Airlines was Alex Wilcox, who returned to US. GoAir is headed by Graham Williamson. Mark Winders, former CEO of SpiceJet, was also hired from abroad.

Besides, many pilots, commandants and crew are recruited from abroad to fill the shortage in the Indian aviation segment.

Peter Luethi joined Jet Airways from Swiss Air, and has been in the aviation industry for over 30 years. It is not clear where he is headed.