After 26 years, Jet shuts ops; 22k staff stare at bleak future
Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:18.04.2019
After raging against the dying of the light for several months, Jet Airways finally flew gently into the night on Wednesday— at least for now. India’s longest-serving private carrier shut down operations after a 26-year journey, during which it flew 650 flights a day at its peak, leaving a huge question mark over the future of 22,000 direct and contractual employees.
Jet will take to the skies again only if it finds a new buyer who revives it.
“Late (Tuesday) night, Jet was informed by the SBI, on behalf of the consortium of Indian Lenders, that they are unable to consider its request for critical interim funding… the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect, Jet Airways is compelled to cancel all international and domestic flights. The last flight will operate on Wednesday,” Jet said in a regulatory filing to BSE on Wednesday night while announcing the temporary shutdown.
The airline had on Tuesday sent a final SOS to lenders for ₹983-crore emergency funding to remain afloat.
Jet’s last flight — Amritsar-Mumbai — was symbolic in several ways. It culminated in Mumbai, the same place where its journey began on May 5, 1993, with a Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight. The plane was a Boeing 737 of Jetlite — the name Naresh Goyal gave to Air Sahara after buying it in 2007 for ₹1,450 crore, an expensive purchase from which Jet never recovered. It finally crumbled under the weight of dues of over ₹20,000 crore.
However, there may still be some hope of Jet flying again in some form. While rejecting Jet’s request for funding, the lenders told the airline in their reply on Tuesday night that “expressions of interest have been received and bid documents have been issued to the eligible recipients.”
Jet Air working to ensure bid process leads to viable solution
The bid document inter alia has solicited plans for a quick revival of the company. The bid process will conclude on May 10, 2019. We are actively working to try and ensure that the bid process leads to a viable solution for the company”. Till last November, Jet had a fleet of 124 aircraft — a mix of widebody Boeing 777 and Airbus A330s; single aisle B737s and turboprop ATRs — with which it operated almost 600 daily flights. Jet was the largest airline in terms of flying people in and out of India for the last three years. The airline’s board had on Tuesday authorised CEO Vinay Dube to decide on shutting down operations after making one last attempt with lenders for emergency funds. In a mail to employees on Wednesday evening, Dube said: “Because no emergency funding from lenders or any other source of funding is forthcoming, it will not be possible for the company to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect we are compelled to cancel all international and domestic flights.”
While giving hope to employees that Jet is “worth investing in,” Dube’s mail also gave them a reality check. “…the sale process will take some time and will throw up several more challenges for us, many of which we don’t have the answers to, today. For example, we don’t have an answer today to the very important question of ‘what happens to us employees during the sale process’,” it said.
The airline would have turned 26 in just over a fortnight and will remain the longest surviving private Indian carrier unless someone else overtakes that record, which could prove an uphill task given the intensely competitive environment in the aviation sector.
Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:18.04.2019
After raging against the dying of the light for several months, Jet Airways finally flew gently into the night on Wednesday— at least for now. India’s longest-serving private carrier shut down operations after a 26-year journey, during which it flew 650 flights a day at its peak, leaving a huge question mark over the future of 22,000 direct and contractual employees.
Jet will take to the skies again only if it finds a new buyer who revives it.
“Late (Tuesday) night, Jet was informed by the SBI, on behalf of the consortium of Indian Lenders, that they are unable to consider its request for critical interim funding… the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect, Jet Airways is compelled to cancel all international and domestic flights. The last flight will operate on Wednesday,” Jet said in a regulatory filing to BSE on Wednesday night while announcing the temporary shutdown.
The airline had on Tuesday sent a final SOS to lenders for ₹983-crore emergency funding to remain afloat.
Jet’s last flight — Amritsar-Mumbai — was symbolic in several ways. It culminated in Mumbai, the same place where its journey began on May 5, 1993, with a Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight. The plane was a Boeing 737 of Jetlite — the name Naresh Goyal gave to Air Sahara after buying it in 2007 for ₹1,450 crore, an expensive purchase from which Jet never recovered. It finally crumbled under the weight of dues of over ₹20,000 crore.
However, there may still be some hope of Jet flying again in some form. While rejecting Jet’s request for funding, the lenders told the airline in their reply on Tuesday night that “expressions of interest have been received and bid documents have been issued to the eligible recipients.”
FINAL VOYAGE
Jet Air working to ensure bid process leads to viable solution
The bid document inter alia has solicited plans for a quick revival of the company. The bid process will conclude on May 10, 2019. We are actively working to try and ensure that the bid process leads to a viable solution for the company”. Till last November, Jet had a fleet of 124 aircraft — a mix of widebody Boeing 777 and Airbus A330s; single aisle B737s and turboprop ATRs — with which it operated almost 600 daily flights. Jet was the largest airline in terms of flying people in and out of India for the last three years. The airline’s board had on Tuesday authorised CEO Vinay Dube to decide on shutting down operations after making one last attempt with lenders for emergency funds. In a mail to employees on Wednesday evening, Dube said: “Because no emergency funding from lenders or any other source of funding is forthcoming, it will not be possible for the company to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect we are compelled to cancel all international and domestic flights.”
While giving hope to employees that Jet is “worth investing in,” Dube’s mail also gave them a reality check. “…the sale process will take some time and will throw up several more challenges for us, many of which we don’t have the answers to, today. For example, we don’t have an answer today to the very important question of ‘what happens to us employees during the sale process’,” it said.
The airline would have turned 26 in just over a fortnight and will remain the longest surviving private Indian carrier unless someone else overtakes that record, which could prove an uphill task given the intensely competitive environment in the aviation sector.
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