The decision came a day after the airline management on Saturday said it could remit only the remaining amount of December salary to pilots and others
Jet Airways's pilots union on Sunday deferred its call to halt operations, to April 15 following hectic deliberations by its members in Mumbai and Delhi. The decision came a day after the airline management on Saturday said it could remit only the remaining amount of December salary to pilots and others.
"We hope the airline management pays our remaining dues on priority basis by April 14," said a senior pilot with Jet Airways.
Meaninwhile, the consortium of lenders to Jet Airways is considering roping in former SBI chief A K Purwar as chairman of the interim management committee as the cash-strapped airline looks for a new investor.
National Aviator's Guild (NAG), which represents over 1,100 pilots of Jet Airways, had earlier written letters to the management indicating plan to go on mass leave from April 1 unless they are paid substantial part of their pending salaries and given a clear roadmap on future payments. A similar threat was also conveyed by the aircraft maintenance engineers who have told the management their inability to work for "free" anymore.
"The Board of directors and the management team are working as fast as possible to implement the resolution plan agreed with the consortium of Indian lenders to quickly restore the much-needed stability to our operations and build a sustainable future for the airline," Jet Airways chief executive officer Vinay Dube said in a communication to pilots and engineers last week.
"These are complex processes and it has taken longer than we had expected and as such we are only able to remit your remaining salary for December 2018," he said.
A senior Jet Airways executive said, "Fund infusion by lenders takes some time as formalities are required to be done. Once it is done, things may get smoother "
The crisis-ridden Jet currently operates about 35 aircraft out of a total fleet of 119 which it earlier flew.
Meanwhile, Jet Airways management is expected to submit details of the 40 aircraft which it expects to get back into flying by this month-end. The airline leadership last week assured the government that it will not be grounding any aircraft further and will give concrete details by Tuesday of the number of aircraft it will be able to get back into operations after convincing the lessors. The airline had in the past over two months grounded about 84 aircraft, most of it due to non-payment of dues. The lenders led by SBI have agreed to infuse Rs 1,500 crore after the airline's founder Naresh Goyal along with two others stepped down from the Board. The airline and the lenders are said to have reached out to several prospective companies and investors, including Tata Group, Adani and US-based private equity investor TPG Capital.
A maintenance engineer with the airline said, "There is a very high likelihood that the management may use the funds to pay off the lessors/lendors and nothing will be left for us. The management in this case will then come up with a new date for payment. We are not going to take it this time."
According to aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, once Jet Airways comes up with an exact number of aircraft which will be re-deployed for operations, then civil aviation ministry will do an assessment about the available capacity and demand in the Indian aviation market so that the passengers are not affected during the upcoming peak season. Further, other airlines will be asked to pitch in with additional capacity to meet the demand. Also, the civil aviation ministry is contemplating offering some of the unused slots of Jet Airways on an interim basis to other airlines.
An interim management committee being set up by the lenders will manage the daily operations of the crisis-ridden airline until the lenders are able to sell/issue shares to a new investors, with the entire process expected to get completed by June.
Though the aircraft maintenance engineers' union did not formally deny or confirm the stopping of the work from Monday, a senior engineer said they will work as usual.
STEADYING FLIGHT
- Jet's lenders are considering roping in former SBI chief A K Purwar as chairman of the interim management committee
- The pilots' union had earlier written letters to the management indicating plan to go on mass leave from April 1
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Jet Airways")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}