Jet Airways, the second biggest airline in India after Indigo, recently announced it had elected to temporarily suspend operations after failing to secure emergency funds.
On the 17th of April, Jet Airways released a statement on their website outlining the news, which details their inability to secure funds from the State Bank of India (SBI). Subsequently, the airline halted operations in what’s been said as a temporary move as they cannot pay for fuel and flight-critical services.
Despite the admission that they could no gather funds for flight operations, Jet Airways stresses they analysed and searched for every single option before coming to this conclusion, which of them all, is the hardest on passengers and employees.
In response to the situation, the SBI and lenders are following an effort to find new shareholders for the airline. This will conclude on the 10th of May and is the last major resort for the airline.
Photo above: BriYYZ
In the months leading up to this news, Jet Airways has been popular in the media, with lessors scrambling to de-register aircraft and send them in for storage. What started small with Boeing 737s eventually grew as more of the type were grounded due to lease defaults, a Boeing 777-300ER was seized in Amsterdam and regional ATR 72-500s were de-registered.
Finishing off the letter, Jet Airways said it “is hopeful that it will be able to bring the Joy of Flying back to to its guests as soon as possible.
For those that have been caught up in the debacle, the best option is contact your bank or flight center as Jet Airways will unlikely have any staff to attend to refund requests.
Company employees, stakeholders and passengers that have stuck with the airline during the hard times have been thanked by the airline profusely, as indicated in the final paragraph of the letter.