Won’t fly from April 1 if not paid dues: Jet pilots
Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:20.03.2019
Troubled airline Jet Airways is now not even a pale shadow of its former self. The airline, which was a few weeks ago had 119 aircraft, is now flying only 41 of them. This number may have further nosedived as Jet late on Tuesday night informed Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that it has grounded six more planes due to non-payment of rentals. As a result, the airline is currently scheduled to operate about 140 flights a day — a far cry from the figure of 600 till a few months ago.
In Mumbai, the airline’s pilots union met on Tuesday and decided not to fly from April 1 unless their salary dues of the last three months were cleared or at least a letter of intent was signed for clearing dues by March 31. “About 300 pilots will do a silent march at the airline’s Mumbai HQ at Siroya,” said a senior pilot.
Meanwhile, Jet founder Naresh Goyal is now trying to get investment from others like Qatar Airways after Etihad reportedly refused to pump in money.
Lenders to tell Goyal to pledge shares
Lenders may ask Jet founder Naresh Goyal to pledge his entire promoter shareholding in the airline in order to raise capital for infusion into the airline. As a precondition to releasing additional funds and converting debt into equity under a restructuring plan, banks have asked the airline’s promoters to bring in at least ₹750 crore. P 14
Jet has only 41 aircraft available for flying, more attrition likely: DGCA
Tuesday started on a bad note for Jet with its engineers writing to the DGCA about safety fears of the airline’s aircraft, a charge they withdrew later in the day. Soon after the complaint, aviation minister Suresh Prabhu directed aviation authorities “to hold an emergency meeting on grounding of flights by Jet, advance bookings, cancellation, refunds and safety issues, if any.” The minister’s directive came as Jet had been cancelling an increasing number of flights in the past few days at the last minute due to non-availability of resources, including aircraft. And many passengers had complained about not getting refunds on time.
The DGCA had a detailed meeting with Jet officials. “We reviewed the performance of Jet on operational, airworthiness and passenger facilitation. Current availability of aircraft in the fleet for operation is 41 and accordingly a schedule for 603 domestic flights and 382 international flights per week has been drawn. However, it is a dynamic situation and there may be further attrition in coming weeks,” a senior DGCA official said.
In winter 2016-17, Jet had 3,517 weekly domestic flights and in the current winter 2018-19 schedule, the figure is down to just 603, a drop by 83%. Before the crisis hit Jet, it used to operate 4,200 flight (domestic and international combined) weekly or 600 daily flight. The combined flight schedule is now down by 76.5%.
The DGCA has asked Jet to comply with all relevant rules on timely communication (about flight delays or cancellations), compensation, refunds and providing alternate flights wherever applicable. “We are ensuring that all aircraft in the fleet whether in operation or on ground are maintained… Jet has been directed to ensure that no pilots/cabin crew/aircraft maintenance engineer be rostered on duty who had reported stress of any nature,” the DGCA official said, adding the regulator says it is “continuously monitoring overall situation and will take appropriate steps by the end of the month if needed”.
Though Suresh Prabhu has asked DGCA to ensure the safety of Jet planes and the airline avoid last-minute cancellation or change in schedule to minimise passenger inconvenience, grounding of more aircraft may only worsen the situation unless the airline gets some funds quickly. “DGCA must ensure that affected passengers are duly adjusted or get refund as per relevant regulations,” said an official.
The DGCA-Jet meeting came after the airline engineers on Tuesday morning raised a question mark on the safety of the planes being flown by the cash-strapped airline. Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association’s (JAMEWA) Amit Kelkar wrote a letter saying: “…to apprise you of the precarious conditions with respect to flight safety for general public at large. Engineers who inspect, troubleshoot and certify the public transport aircraft for airworthiness are in tremendous stress due to non-payment of salaries… As of now, three months' salaries are overdue to us, arduous to meet financial requirements, which have adversely affected psychological condition of aircraft engineers at work and therefore the safety of airplanes flown by Jet across India and the world is at risk.”
Later in the day, the association retracted this complaint in another letter to the DGCA saying: “We assure you and public that Jet planes are safe to fly and being maintained at the highest levels of safety standards for the last 25 years. We have an impressive technical dispatch reliability of 99.5%, one of the highest in the industry.”
Pledge entire shareholding to raise capital for infusion into airline, lenders may tell Goyal
Mumbai:
Lenders may ask Naresh Goyal to pledge his entire promoter shareholding in Jet Airways in order to raise capital for infusion into the airline. As a precondition to releasing additional funds and converting debt into equity under a restructuring plan banks have asked the airline’s promoters to bring in at least Rs 750 crore. Getting Goyal to pledge shares is the new line of thinking among lenders after Etihad refused to step in as promoter. The Abu Dhabi-based airline has expressed willingness to sell its 24% stake in the airline at a marked down price of ₹150.
Goyal family has a 52% stake in Jet Airways. At the current market price of ₹229, the airline has a market capitalisation of ₹2,600 crore. Even considering a marked down price of ₹150, the airline would be valued at around ₹1,700 crore. Once the promoter brings in ₹750 crore, lenders led by SBI and PNB will convert some of the outstanding debt to equity. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund would also invest in the carrier. TNN
Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:20.03.2019
Troubled airline Jet Airways is now not even a pale shadow of its former self. The airline, which was a few weeks ago had 119 aircraft, is now flying only 41 of them. This number may have further nosedived as Jet late on Tuesday night informed Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that it has grounded six more planes due to non-payment of rentals. As a result, the airline is currently scheduled to operate about 140 flights a day — a far cry from the figure of 600 till a few months ago.
In Mumbai, the airline’s pilots union met on Tuesday and decided not to fly from April 1 unless their salary dues of the last three months were cleared or at least a letter of intent was signed for clearing dues by March 31. “About 300 pilots will do a silent march at the airline’s Mumbai HQ at Siroya,” said a senior pilot.
Meanwhile, Jet founder Naresh Goyal is now trying to get investment from others like Qatar Airways after Etihad reportedly refused to pump in money.
Lenders to tell Goyal to pledge shares
Lenders may ask Jet founder Naresh Goyal to pledge his entire promoter shareholding in the airline in order to raise capital for infusion into the airline. As a precondition to releasing additional funds and converting debt into equity under a restructuring plan, banks have asked the airline’s promoters to bring in at least ₹750 crore. P 14
Jet has only 41 aircraft available for flying, more attrition likely: DGCA
Tuesday started on a bad note for Jet with its engineers writing to the DGCA about safety fears of the airline’s aircraft, a charge they withdrew later in the day. Soon after the complaint, aviation minister Suresh Prabhu directed aviation authorities “to hold an emergency meeting on grounding of flights by Jet, advance bookings, cancellation, refunds and safety issues, if any.” The minister’s directive came as Jet had been cancelling an increasing number of flights in the past few days at the last minute due to non-availability of resources, including aircraft. And many passengers had complained about not getting refunds on time.
The DGCA had a detailed meeting with Jet officials. “We reviewed the performance of Jet on operational, airworthiness and passenger facilitation. Current availability of aircraft in the fleet for operation is 41 and accordingly a schedule for 603 domestic flights and 382 international flights per week has been drawn. However, it is a dynamic situation and there may be further attrition in coming weeks,” a senior DGCA official said.
In winter 2016-17, Jet had 3,517 weekly domestic flights and in the current winter 2018-19 schedule, the figure is down to just 603, a drop by 83%. Before the crisis hit Jet, it used to operate 4,200 flight (domestic and international combined) weekly or 600 daily flight. The combined flight schedule is now down by 76.5%.
The DGCA has asked Jet to comply with all relevant rules on timely communication (about flight delays or cancellations), compensation, refunds and providing alternate flights wherever applicable. “We are ensuring that all aircraft in the fleet whether in operation or on ground are maintained… Jet has been directed to ensure that no pilots/cabin crew/aircraft maintenance engineer be rostered on duty who had reported stress of any nature,” the DGCA official said, adding the regulator says it is “continuously monitoring overall situation and will take appropriate steps by the end of the month if needed”.
Though Suresh Prabhu has asked DGCA to ensure the safety of Jet planes and the airline avoid last-minute cancellation or change in schedule to minimise passenger inconvenience, grounding of more aircraft may only worsen the situation unless the airline gets some funds quickly. “DGCA must ensure that affected passengers are duly adjusted or get refund as per relevant regulations,” said an official.
The DGCA-Jet meeting came after the airline engineers on Tuesday morning raised a question mark on the safety of the planes being flown by the cash-strapped airline. Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association’s (JAMEWA) Amit Kelkar wrote a letter saying: “…to apprise you of the precarious conditions with respect to flight safety for general public at large. Engineers who inspect, troubleshoot and certify the public transport aircraft for airworthiness are in tremendous stress due to non-payment of salaries… As of now, three months' salaries are overdue to us, arduous to meet financial requirements, which have adversely affected psychological condition of aircraft engineers at work and therefore the safety of airplanes flown by Jet across India and the world is at risk.”
Later in the day, the association retracted this complaint in another letter to the DGCA saying: “We assure you and public that Jet planes are safe to fly and being maintained at the highest levels of safety standards for the last 25 years. We have an impressive technical dispatch reliability of 99.5%, one of the highest in the industry.”
Pledge entire shareholding to raise capital for infusion into airline, lenders may tell Goyal
Mumbai:
Lenders may ask Naresh Goyal to pledge his entire promoter shareholding in Jet Airways in order to raise capital for infusion into the airline. As a precondition to releasing additional funds and converting debt into equity under a restructuring plan banks have asked the airline’s promoters to bring in at least Rs 750 crore. Getting Goyal to pledge shares is the new line of thinking among lenders after Etihad refused to step in as promoter. The Abu Dhabi-based airline has expressed willingness to sell its 24% stake in the airline at a marked down price of ₹150.
Goyal family has a 52% stake in Jet Airways. At the current market price of ₹229, the airline has a market capitalisation of ₹2,600 crore. Even considering a marked down price of ₹150, the airline would be valued at around ₹1,700 crore. Once the promoter brings in ₹750 crore, lenders led by SBI and PNB will convert some of the outstanding debt to equity. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund would also invest in the carrier. TNN
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