(AFP) Jet Airways on Thursday appointed Gary Kenneth Toomey as its new chief executive, two months after a landmark deal in which Abu Dhabi-based Etihad acquired a 24 percent stake in the Indian carrier.

The 58-year-old Australian replaces Nikos Kardassis who resigned from the airline’s top post on June 5.

Toomey has “extensive experience in domestic and international airline management, and the right credentials and skills to take Jet Airways forward”, said Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal in a statement.

The carrier’s chief operating officer Hameed Ali will be the acting CEO until Toomey’s appointment receives regulatory approval, said an airline spokesman.

Toomey has previously served as president and CEO of the Air New Zealand Group and CEO of Airlines PNG in Papua New Guinea during periods of major expansion.

Media reports said Etihad had been keen for a change in Jet’s management since the April deal between the two companies.

“Ever since Jet clinched the deal… the industry was abuzz with speculation that changes in the private carrier’s leadership were in the offing,” the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency commented after the announcement.

On the revamped Jet Airways board, the Indian carrier will have four members and the Gulf carrier three members, including the CEO.

Toomey said the fast-growing Indian aviation market “offered significant potential for Jet Airways not only within India, but beyond, through new or improved international connections”, PTI reported.

The Jet-Etihad deal is the first overseas investment in an existing Indian airline since the government eased restrictions in September to allow foreign firms a 49 percent stake in domestic airline companies.

Jet is India’s second-largest airline, with a 22.6 percent market share, according to the country’s civil aviation regulator.

Last month, Jet reported a quarterly net loss of 4.96 billion rupees ($90 million) in the three months to March, against a loss of 2.98 billion rupees a year earlier, after being hit by rising costs.

SOURCE AFP