Two associations representing pilots and engineers have written to SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar proposing that they would take over the airline and can bring in up to Rs 7,000 crore.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the new owners of cash-strapped Jet Airways, how much have they paid towards dues on account of provident fund and gratuity to the former employees of the troubled airline. The top court made the query while commencing the hearing on a batch of petitions, including the one filed by the Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association, against the October 21, 2022 order of the insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT.
Jet Airways' engineers, pilots and senior management have not been paid for January and February, besides 87.5 per cent of their December salary is also due.
On September 6, the airline informed senior employees that their salaries would be paid in two instalments till November.
Both Jet Airways and Go First have met with a similar fate of landing up in insolvency, albeit for different reasons. Whether Go First will be able to avoid the sharp erosion in value like in the case of Jet, experts say, will depend on how quickly it is able to restart operations and retain its slots at airports. Go First, owned by the Wadia group, filed for voluntary corporate insolvency resolution on May 2 due to inadequate capacity utilisation that led to a cash crunch.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday dismissed the petition filed by an employee association of debt-ridden Jet Airways, challenging the sale of two floors of office space in Mumbai's business district of Bandra Kurla during the insolvency process of the grounded carrier. Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association (JAMEWA had challenged the orders passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on June 11, 2021, allowing the sale of the office space for Rs 490 crore. The association had contended that the sale of BKC property, was not permissible under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) as a moratorium was declared over the assets of the company after an order dated June 20, 2019.
The airline now has a total of 1,120 pilots of whom 88 are foreign pilots.
The salaries for August were to be paid in two instalments -- 50 per cent by September 11 and the remaining by September 26.
The pilots and other senior staff have not been getting their full salaries since December.
Jet Airways -- which has been flying for 25 years - on Friday described reports that the airline cannot fly beyond 60 days as "incorrect and malicious" as well as denied any talks of stake sale.
Jet Airways is looking to lease around 20 Airbus A320 aircraft from lessors by 2024 as it aims to restart operations and fly international routes in the next one-and-a-half years. Jet's A320 aircraft fleet, according to sources, will be a mix of the Ceo and the more fuel-efficient Neo variants. These planes were originally intended for Russian airlines but could not be delivered following western sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine invasion.
Jet Airways, which has acquired Air Sahara for Rs 1,450 crore (Rs 14.5 billion), needs to shell out Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) immediately to rejuvenate the loss-making airline and take charge of it.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the new owners of the cash-strapped Jet Airways, to deposit Rs 150 crore in SBI's escrow account by January 31, saying failure to do so will mean that the consortium is not in compliance with the terms of the resolution plan for reviving the airline. The top court, meanwhile, also refused to allow the separate plea of the Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association seeking payment of provident fund and gratuity dues, observing if additional money is awarded, the resolution plan will become "unworkable". The consortium, as per the lawyers for the workmen, has to pay over Rs 200 crore towards dues on account of PF and gratuity.
Jet Airways is in an advanced stage of talks with aircraft makers and lessors to lease planes and expects to restart operations in the coming weeks, according to executives at the airline. The once-storied carrier is now under the ownership of the Jalan-Kalrock consortium and its air operator certificate was revalidated by aviation regulator DGCA in May this year. The executives said the operations of Jet Airways will commence before the end of this year and the initial fleet plan is close to being finalised.
Jet's staff strength stands whittled down to around 4,000, with many former employees having joined airlines in India and abroad.
With substantial number of employees having been with Jet Airways for around 20 years, getting another job is also not easy considering the age factor and the job market situation.
For the first time in 13 years, since Jet Airways' A330 planes exited the airline's fleet in around 2010, an Indian wide-body aircraft will have a Rolls-Royce-powered engine, with Air India ordering 40 Airbus A350 planes. On Tuesday, Air India announced its mega aircraft order for 470 aircraft, including A350 planes. The A350 aircraft, which will come in two variants, are powered solely by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines and the local team has begun work to assist Air India with its aircraft-induction plans.
At least 20 to 30 departures are being cancelled daily from metros and key airports including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Jet Airways on Monday awarded $750-million contract to a leading Singaporean firm for maintenance support to engines of its 67-strong Boeing-737 fleet over the next 10 years.
Coming down heavily on aviation safety violations, DGCA on Saturday grounded a business jet owned by Reliance Industries for carrying expired safety equipment on board and suspended its pilot for flying without a licence.
Some aircraft technicians at IndiGo are on sick leave since Friday demanding a revision in salaries. The protest comes days after the airline partially restored salaries of its pilots and cabin crew and made changes to its human resource (HR) policies. Some technicians in Hyderabad reported sick on Friday night while those from other bases skipped work on Sunday demanding a revision in salary, an industry source said.
Together with Jet Airways we will have 61 flights to Amsterdam and Paris during the winter season. That also makes us the second largest airline group after Lufthansa, which has 67 weekly flights, and we are catching up to become the first, says KLM CEO Pieter Elbers.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa is in talks with US aerospace company Boeing for buying up to 100 737 Max aircraft. Former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and his family members are promoters while ex-IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh is a board member of the airline. The airline is in negotiation with Boeing and has reached out to the government to recertify the aircraft which has been grounded since 2018 after two crashes killing 349 persons, according to sources in the know.
The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
Airline now financially more stable but still in the doldrums as the operating environment remains tough.
The watchdog has also asked the airlines to ensure various requirements are complied with by engineering and maintenance personnel with respect to 737 MAX planes.
But the Abu Dhabi-based airline would first bolster its own network with traffic from India before Jet's turnaround.
The airline has informed its flight attendants that they would be eligible for leave without pay between November 1 and December 20
Air India Express along with SpiceJet and Jet Airways is one of the three main targets for Boeing in the country as it promotes its new 737 MAX aircraft, which is scheduled to enter commercial operations in 2017.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed the civil aviation regulator to deregister planes leased to Go First within five working days, giving respite to the lessors. This means that the airline will have to give back all 54 aircraft to the lessors if its resolution professional (RP) does not challenge the order or ask for a stay. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju also refused the request of the RP, represented by advocate Diwakar Maheshwari, to keep the operation of the order in abeyance for a week to enable them to file an appeal before the division Bench of the court.
Airline says can't discuss dues publicly, denies grounding of planes
IndiGo said operations of the ATR fleet would be handled by an independent team that would be responsible for in-flight services, dispatch and control, and revenue.
Experts expect a net loss of Rs 26.7 billion for IndiGo and Rs 10.1 billion for SpiceJet in Q1FY21 driven by low traffic volume, low fleet utilisation and poor coverage of fixed costs.
Signs of financial stress were visible when the airline reported a loss of Rs 10.40 billion.
A Nepalese private plane crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing 18 people aboard, including a child, and seriously injuring the pilot -- the only survivor.
Tata Sons has started the process of due diligence of state-owned Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express. Sources said the group has appointed Bain and Company and Seabury Group for this purpose. Once complete, a financial bid will be submitted and a deal to take over the airline is likely to fructify by end of this year or even earlier, people involved in the process said. Simultaneously, the group has brought in veterans in the aviation business from Delta and United Airlines to prepare a plan for post-merger integration of Air India with its existing airline ventures. Tata Sons operates Vistara - a 51:49 percent joint venture with Singapore Airlines and Air Asia India, in which Tatas hold 83.67 per cent stakes.
'Indian aviation is having a lesser number of aircraft.' 'Besides the Boeing 737 MAX, you have the A320Neos which Indigo is currently grappling with because of a lack of pilots.' 'This has led to cancellation (of flights) and therefore the prices of air tickets are on the higher side this season although generally in March ticket prices are on the lower side.'
Its association with India is over 70 years old and spans both civil and military aviation. The Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft used by the air force beginning the 1940s and the iconic Boeing 747 aircraft flown by Air India, both had Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines. The Indian Air Force's present-day, heavy-lift C-17 Globemaster III and the yet-to-be-inducted C-295 planes, too, have P&W power plants.
Commercial aviation is safe because the crew is paid well and trained extensively for contingencies
Only nine of the airline's 370 daily flights were making profits.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances