Jet Airways' Revival Plan Accepted, Routes Yet To Be Decided: Sources

The Jet Airways' revival plan submitted by a consortium of London-based Kalrock Capital and the UAE-based businessmen Murari Lal Jalan was approved by the National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday, sources told NDTV. As part of the revival plan, NCLT has given 90 days to Director General of Civil Aviation and Aviation Ministry to allot slots to the debt-laden Jet Airways.

However, sources said the matter about Jet Airways being given its historic routes remains unresolved and more talks are needed to determine its domestic and international routes. Jet Airways had about 700 time slots, allowing it to land and depart from congested airports such as Mumbai and Delhi. After the suspension of operations in April 2019, Jet Airways's slots were allocated to other airlines. 

Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV, Ashish Chhawchharia, Partner - Advisory, Head - Restructuring Services, Grant Thornton Advisory appointed by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium said Jet Airways will fly again by the end of the calendar year. It will initially operate on 20 routes, with 20 narrow body aircraft and 5 wide-bodied aircraft.

Speaking about Jet Airways' routes, Mr Ashish Chhawchharia said the routes will be decided within 90 days. Jet is still negotiating on the routes and may not get back all its old routes. However, Jet should regain many of its old revenue slots in the national capital as a new runway is coming up and additional capacity is being made available, he added. The initial routes will primarily be domestic, but a handful may be international as the airline retains a very strong brand value.

Jet Airways will re-employ those who have remained loyal to the airline and hire more personnel as the airline expands.

Jet Airways has been undergoing a resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) since the last two years.

In October 2020, the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Jet Airways had approved the resolution plan submitted by a consortium of UK's Kalrock Capital and the UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan.

The Kalrock-Jalan consortium had proposed to repay banks, financial institutions and employees and establish Jet Airways as a full service airline.

In June 2019, NCLT admitted the insolvency petition against Jet Airways filed by the lenders' consortium led by the State Bank of India.

Jet Airways was forced to ground all flights In April 2019, crippled by mounting losses as it attempted to compete with low-cost rivals. The airline operated a fleet of more than 120 planes serving dozens of domestic destinations and international hubs such as Singapore, London and Dubai at the time.

The carrier owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to banks, with public sector lenders having significant exposure. 

Meanwhile, in an official statement issued by Jalan Kalrock, the consortium said that "it awaits the written order by the National Company Law Tribunal approving the Resolution Plan and shall inform all stakeholders on next steps for the revival of their beloved airline – Jet Airways".

"Our team will study the written order once issued by the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal and we will provide a detailed response on the next steps subsequently," the statement read.

The consortium further stated that "it wants to work alongside the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and all its competitors to put Jet Airways back in the skies".