Jet ready to take off in early 2022

Jet Airways will resume domestic operations in the first quarter of 2022, the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the successful resolution applicant for the grounded airline, said on Monday.

The process of reviving the carrier is on track, with the existing air operator certificate (AOC) already under process for revalidation, the consortium said, adding that it is working closely with the relevant authorities and airport coordinators on slot allocation, required airport infrastructure and night parking.

Senior members of the Jalan-Kalrock consortium visited key airports last month and held meetings with them, accompanied by an operations team led by the carrier’s newly appointed acting CEO Sudhir Gaur.

In a statement, consortium member and the proposed non-executive chairman of Jet Airways, Murari Lal Jalan, said that the airline is aiming to restart domestic operations by Q1 of 2022, and short-haul international operations by Q3 or Q4 of the same year. “Our plan is to have 50+ aircraft in three years and 100+ in five years which also fits perfectly well with the short-term and long-term business plan of the consortium. The aircraft are being selected based on competitive long-term leasing solutions,” Jalan said.

While in its previous avatar Jet Airways was headquartered in Mumbai, after its relaunch it will be headquartered in Delhi-NCR, with senior management working from the corporate office at Gurgaon. The airline will continue to have a presence in Mumbai, where its ‘Global One’ office is situated. The training centre located at Global One will be retained and used for in-house training, the consortium said.

The carrier plans to begin domestic operations on an all narrow-body aircraft fleet leased from major global aircraft lessors. Jet has hired over 150 full-time employees on its payroll and another 1,000 employees are likely to be recruited in FY22 across categories.

The NCLT had on June 22 approved the resolution put in by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium to take over Jet Airways, while ruling that the landing slots allotted to the carrier earlier will not be immediately available to it.

However, the resolution plan is currently facing a fresh legal challenge in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) from the employee group of Jet Airways, the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), and Jet Airways Cabin Crew Association (JACCA). The petitioners have reportedly raised concerns about pending salaries and retirement benefits being jeopardised under the resolution plan put forth by the Kalrock-Jalan consortium.