The Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines, Sarath Ganegoda has made it clear to the Executive President that his continued role at Sri Lankan Airlines has become untenable.

Many instances of internal conflicts within the Airline management and politically charged questions has fuelled a growing negativity for the Group that had initially agreed for Mr Ganegoda to help the government out at a critical juncture. Sources opined that Mr Ganegoda has asked the Executive President to find a replacement until which time he will continue in pole position.

Mr Ganegoda has had a stellar career and continues to do so as a finance man of choice for the large conglomerate he is at and agreed to help the new government out initially to assess if the troubled airline could be turned around.

Under the Chairmanship of Mr Ganegoda, the airline has finally found a way to be operationally sound from a finance perspective – it is also believed that he had made it known that the legacy debt at the national carrier is unsustainable and that if the airline were to survive in a truly commercial manner, the government would have to absorb the legacy debt and unshackle Sri Lankan Airlines from a past legacy of corruption.

At the time we went to ‘press’ a message sent to Mr Ganegoda elicited no answer.