NCLT approves the Kalrock-Jalan consortium for Jet Airway’s Revival
On June 22, the plan of the revival of Jet Airways, which was proposed by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium, got approved by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). As a part of the revival, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) and Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) have 90 days to allot the slots.
Howbeit, Jet Airways is not allowed to use its historical records and demand for their old routes. They had lost all their rights on the routes in June 2019, when the slots were sold to other airlines. They will be getting routes according to the recent guidelines. DGCA and MCA have 90 days to give the slots to Jet Airways. DGCA and MCA will check for the details of the routes and provide the best possible routes to Jet Airways. In addition, the motivating news for Jet Airways is, 30 airports are already ready to give slots to them.
Slots are the time span on which they can fly on that specific route or the permission to fly on that route. So, say if you want a 0315am slot for departure from Mumbai, you have to approach DGCA/MCA and pay some remuneration for it, and then you get that slot/period to operate that route.
On April 17, 2019, Jet had its last flight, and post that, they had ceased all their operations and declared themselves bankrupt. They could not manage any emergency fund. They did not even have money for the fuel to keep the aircraft flying or, for that matter, for any other critical operations too. After Jet shutting down, all their slots were sold to other airlines by the end of June 2019. It was a heartbreaking moment for all Jet lovers and aviation enthusiasts to see 700 slots of Jet Airways getting sold.
In October 2020, Jet Airways saw a ray of hope of getting revived when UK’s Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan came together and won the bid to repair the wound and make Jet Airways fly again. They just won’t be fixing it superficially but will clean it from deep inside too. They have proposed to repay banks, financial institutes, employees and make Jet Airways again a full-fledged service airline.
Initially, Jet Airways will be keeping its fleet small enough with 20 narrow-body aircraft and 5 wide-bodied aircraft. At the start, their routes will also be domestic but not forgetting the name they had before shutting down; they will get a few international routes also. It does not end here. Jet Airways has always cared for its employees, and they are still standing firm on those principles. They have also proposed to re-employ their old loyal employees, and as they expand, they will start hiring other personnel.
Apart from all these, 30 airports are eager to give Jet Airways a head start by giving them slots. Also, the 3rd runway, which is being constructed at India’s capital, Delhi, will be of massive help to Jet Airways to quickly regain a few of their old routes.
Everyone from Aviation Industry is eager to see Jet Airway taking off and be where it is supposed to be, i.e., in the sky.
What do you think about the process? How fast will it happen? As per your opinion, what should they be doing?
