Wadia family to stay invested in GoAir, asserts CEO Edgardo Badiali
12 Jul 2008
Mumbai: Faced with a spate of media reports that the Wadia family may be looking at either exiting GoAir, or at least selling a part of its stake, CEO, Edgardo Badiali, has issued a statement which asserts that the original promoters intend to stay invested in the low cost carrier despite the sharp rise in fuel prices impacting its profitability.
Badiali's statement comes amidst a flurry of corrective measures undertaken by the low fare operator to cut operating costs. These have included withdrawing from four sectors, pruning manpower and deferring renewal of lease agreements of four aircraft. Over the past few months, the airline has pulled out from sectors like Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore and Jaipur and has also reduced its manpower from 1,200 to 800.
''The promoters are fully committed to the airline and there is enough financial backing from the group to grow the airline business,'' the Go Air CEO said. ''Due to the oil crisis, we are taking drastic measures to cut costs from all sides and restructuring the operations to be leaner as controlling oil prices is out of question,'' he added.
Currently, the airline is operating 26 flights a day, against 40 flights earlier. It still operates on the Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa and Jammu & Kashmir routes.
