For Jet's revival, Mr Jalan should be on the scene long enough for everyone to get to know him, appreciate his skills, and not vanish into thin air within a matter of months or even weeks, observes Anjuli Bhargava.
His vision for Jet Airways is to operate the carrier as a full-service airline, both domestic and international.
The creditors of the grounded carrier Jet Airways on Wednesday raised questions over the source of Rs 200 crore deposited by the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium before the insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT and said it does not align with the resolution plan. Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, representing lenders including SBI and other banks, told the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that there are apprehensions about the source of funds, which deposited money for Jalan-Kalrock Consortium's (JKC). "The payment is not compliant with the resolution plan as it mandates that the money is to be paid through JKC," ASG submitted before a three-member NCLAT bench headed by chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan.
The National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday approved the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium's resolution plan for the bankrupt Jet Airways.
Jet Airways will be able to take to the skies once again, after aviation regulator DGCA on Friday granted it a revalidated air operator certificate, allowing the airline to resume commercial flight operations.
Jet Airways CEO-designate Sanjiv Kapoor on Monday said the new management does not want to be "in a rush" to restart operations while asserting that the airline will be unique and different. The ownership transfer of the airline under the insolvency resolution plan is facing hurdles over differences between the winning bidder and lenders. "We don't want to be in a rush," Kapoor said.
Kalrock Capital-Murari Lal Jalan combine has emerged as the frontrunner. A consortium of Imperial Capital and FSTC is the other bidder.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday approved the transfer of ownership of bankrupt-Jet Airways to the Jalan Kalrock consortium and gave the winning bidder more time to pay the dues to the creditors. The latest rulings have come on two petitions filed by the consortium. One plea pertained to approval of transfer of ownership and the second one related to extension of time for the payment of dues to the creditors. Earlier, the tribunal had given time till November 16, 2022 for the consortium to make the payments to the creditors of the airline.
Grounded carrier Jet Airways on Friday announced the appointment of Sanjiv Kapoor as the chief executive officer. His appointment to the post comes days after the airline brought in former Sri Lankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatileka as the chief financial officer. Kapoor, who is currently the president of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, has been associated with budget carriers SpiceJet and GoAir as well as with full-service carrier Vistara in various capacities in the past.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday directed the Kalrock-Jalan consortium, the winning bidder for bankrupt Jet Airways, to share portions of the resolution plan pertaining to claims of employees with the airline's workmen. The Association of Aggrieved Workmen of Jet Airways (India) Ltd had sought a copy of the approved resolution plan and the latest direction has come on a plea filed by the association. The development comes almost seven months after the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the Jalan-Kalrock consortium's resolution plan in June 2021.
The pilot-turned-airline owner and his partner Biraja Jena plan to launch FlyBig, which has secured 16 routes under the fourth phase of UDAN, the government's regional connectivity programme.
In signs of increasing differences, Jet Airways' winning bidder Jalan Kalrock Consortium on Tuesday asked the airline monitoring committee's authorised representative Ashish Chhawcharia not to issue any communication on behalf of the grounded carrier without approval of all the members of the committee. Amid the continuing uncertainty over the fate of Jet Airways, which shuttered operations in April 2019, the consortium on Tuesday wrote a letter to Chhawcharia. The latest development comes more than a week after Chhawchharia reportedly shot off a letter to Sanjiv Kapoor, asking him to refrain from using the title of CEO as he was only a CEO-designate.
All India Jet Airways' Officers and Staff Association on Thursday said it has filed an appeal before the NCLAT against Jalan-Kalrock consortium's resolution plan for the airline. In October 2020, the airline's Committee of Creditors (CoC) approved the resolution plan submitted by the consortium of the UK's Kalrock Capital and the UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan. The plan was later cleared by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Jet Airways will restart domestic operations by the first quarter of 2022 and short haul international flights by the last quarter of the next year, Jalan Kalrock Consortium, the winning bidder for the grounded airline, stated on Monday. The first flight of Jet Airways would be on Delhi-Mumbai route, it mentioned, adding that the airline would now be headquartered in Delhi instead of Mumbai. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in June this year had approved the Jalan Kalrock Consortium's resolution plan for Jet Airways, two years after the once-storied full-service carrier went into insolvency proceedings.
Sources said the process has taken time because of a delay in leasing of aircraft. As per the original plan the aircraft were to be leased through GIFT City, Gujarat, but this is proving costlier than doing it offshore.
Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) has moved the Insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT against the approval of bids for defunct airline Jet Airways. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) bench has issued a notice over the PNB's petition along with its interim plea seeking a stay over the execution of the resolution plan. A three-member bench has directed the Resolution Professional of Jet Airways along with other parties including the Committee of Creditors to file a reply within two weeks and rejoinder, if by PNB, within one week.
The winning bid attracted over 99 per cent votes, with lenders overwhelmingly voting for a revival instead of recovery through liquidation.
A committee of creditors had, in October, approved of the resolution plan submitted by UAE businessman Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital.
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 consortium of UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and UK-based private equity fund Kalrock Capital is rushing to restart Jet Airways' operations, even though differences have emerged over who will fund expenses before operations commence, sources said. The airline applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for recertification of its air operator certificate in the last week of January. The regulator is likely to inspect the airline's preparedness to operate a flight in the middle of this month, after which it will be asked to operate a proving flight to demonstrate its ability to conduct flights safely and in accordance with rules.
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.
The Kalrock-Jalan consortium - new owners of Jet Airways - has got an assurance from around 30 airports that if the airline restarts operations, 170 pairs of slots can be made available. However, whether those slots will be according to the airline's demand will depend on the order of the insolvency court, which is slated to come next week. Sources said the new management feels it is extremely important that some of those slots are restored or else its business plan of operating Jet as a premium carrier will not be viable.
Jet Airways is seeing a churn in its senior management ahead of its planned take-off this year. Sudhir Gaur, accountable manager and acting chief executive officer, is the latest to quit the company. Finance head M Shivakumar and head of management information system (MIS) Farazad Patrawalla moved out a few weeks earlier. Gaur had been part of the initial team selected by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium, which secured approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last June to revive the airline.
According to the resolution plan, the airline is planning to start with six to seven aircraft on domestic routes and looking to restart international service within six months of resuming operations.
If the Murari Lal Jalan-Kalrock Capital combine can script a turnaround, it will have pulled off a bigger coup than Ajay Singh did with SpiceJet in 2014.
The consortium of UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and London's Kalrock Capital -- which has won the bid to revive Jet Airways -- on Monday said it expects to start operating the airline by the summer of 2021.
If that happens, Jet Airways will be the first bankrupt airline which will be revived under the Insolvency process.
Among executives who have been approached are former president and CEO of IndiGo Aditya Ghosh, Wolfgang Prock Schauer, current president and Chief Operating Officer at IndiGo and Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer of IndiGo.
'The actual amount due to Jet Airways employees is Rs 1,200 crore, and the management is giving only Rs 52 crore.'
Jet's staff strength stands whittled down to around 4,000, with many former employees having joined airlines in India and abroad.
After 18 months of closure, what really could be salvaged? And the answer sadly is, precious little, Patience, perseverance and plenty of moolah is the way forward even assuming intent is in place, says Anjuli Bhargava.
'The government has assured us support.' 'The civil aviation ministry have told us that whatever we need, we will get prime airport slots and bilateral rights.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances