The gathering storm

Remember him - Saša Vlaisavljević

Saša Vlaisavljević, who was the CEO of Jat Airways since October 2007 until the beginning of July this year, has surprisingly resigned from his new position. Vlaisavljević gave up his executive position at Jat to become the city manager of Belgrade but on Wednesday he resigned without reason, less then 2 weeks into his new job. Some Serbian media have now suggested that a major corruption scandal in Jat is about to be unearthed which is directly linked with Vlaisavljević and his time within the airline. Saša Vlaisavljević has left Serbia and is currently not in the country. The largely unpopular Vlaisavljević has, during his reign at Jat, introduced strict cost cutting measures and reduced the airline’s workforce by almost 800. Vlaisavljević also ordered the closure of many of Jat’s international offices, most notably in New York City. At Jat, he also employed a close family member and placed them within an important sector at the airline. After choosing to become the city manager of Belgrade, Vlaisavljević was also given a position on the airline’s board of directors (which he accepted), although his position is now in jeopardy. Furthermore, the current Jat management has been in a great deal of conflict with Vlaisavljević and it is suggested they would gladly expose him if any corruption did take place. Relations were further worsened when Jat’s current management decided to publish passenger figures for 2009, which displayed mass losses and furthermore illustrated that the radical cost cutting measures introduced by Vlaisavljević have failed.

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