SriLankan Airlines to get a new Board and chairman

Tuesday, 16 January 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The much-hyped resignation of the Board of Directors of SriLankan Airlines will finally take place, according to high-ranking Government sources.

Currently the Board is non-functional and the CEO Suren Ratwatte is running the National Carrier.

Some former Board members opined one of the main reasons that the airline cannot service its loans is because the CEO did not carry out the orders of the Board of not cancelling the lease of the old aircrafts and failing to sign up with PIA.

These will now be subject to the impending Presidential Commission of Inquiry, sources said, adding that the outcome of the commission could embarrass the UNP-led Government.

Sources say the interim Board will be mandated to restructure, look at sources for capital infusion and strategic partners and cleaning up the balance sheet. The new Board according to the Government will include the secretary of finance, chairman of the public-private partnership, official of the supervising ministry and the interim chairman, a former bank chairman.

Though the UNP-led Government is looking to privatise, the President is keen to have Government control over the airline, according to the sources.