Vlaisavljević is out and Vujović is back

In a surprise move (Predrag) Draško Vujović (pictured below) long time Jat employee and the CEO of the airline from 2001 to 2005 will return to the airline in hope he will manage to revive the struggling Serbian national carrier. Vujović successfully led the airline with the reintroduction of key services and the return of Jat as an international airline following 10 years of restrictions which were placed on the airline by the UN. He also led the airline through its name change of JAT Yugoslav Airlines to Jat Airways. Before he was forced to step down in 2005 Vujović was about to create a new Jat subsidiary named Interlink which was to be Jat’s low cost airline although the plan was dropped following a change in management. The management changed after a month long strike organised by Jat Tehnika in 2005 (at the time part of Jat Airways) that paralysed the airline. Following his departure from Jat, Vujović created the unsuccessful Centavia, which was to be Serbia’s first low cost airline, however it struggled and went bankrupt a month after operations began. Vujović has worked in Jat for 20 years (when the 2005 to 2008 period is excluded). He should be officially named by the Serbian gvernment as the new CEO of Jat Airways within the next 5 days (if not today or tomorrow).

Saša Vlaisavljević (pictured above) worked as ground operations manager for Jat Airways at Belgrade Nikola Tesla from the early 90’s and became the airline’s CEO in 2007. He has been heavily criticised by airline company employees for closing down Jat offices around the world and shutting down international services. Vlaisavljević will leave Jat and become the manager of the City of Belgrade. Meanwhile the government has not yet adopted Jat’s development strategy. This is because Serbia’s prime minister and other members of the government do not agree with the recommendations that Jat should sell its international offices in New York, Amsterdam and a few other European cities. With the change in Jat’s management it remains to be seen what will happen.