The government on Tuesday took stock of the situation at Jet Airways by holding a meeting with the struggling airline's top management, bankers led by State Bank of India and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Jet's management during their interaction with the aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola assured that the airline is hopeful of adding about 40 aircraft back into flying by April-end.
The development came a day after Jet's founder Naresh Goyal stepped down from the cash-strapped airline's Board, paving way for lenders to infuse Rs 1,500 crore funding.
At present, about 35 of Jet's aircraft are in operations. However, a concrete number will emerge only after Monday or Tuesday as the carrier is currently in talks with the lessors, who are to be convinced about future operations and payments. If that happens, then Jet Airways will have about 80% of its fleet back in the sky, the management is said to have briefed Kharola.
The airline had in the past two months grounded about 84 of its aircraft, most of it due to non-payment of dues. "We will have to convince the lessors before they allow us to use the plane again. I believe after the announcement of Rs 1,500 crore funding, it should get easier to convince them," said one of the executives from the airline.
According to Kharola, once Jet Airways comes out with an exact number for the aircraft that will be redeployed for operations, 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. "Our concern in the operations," said Kharola.
Also, civil aviation ministry is contemplating offering some of the unused slots of Jet Airways on an interim basis to the other airlines. Kharola said that will too depend upon how many aircraft Jet Airways will be able to bring into operations again.
Further, the civil aviation ministry has asked DGCA to monitor the fares against any predatory pricing done by the airlines. "Airlines have been asked not to indulge in any kind of predatory pricing," said a civil aviation ministry official.
When asked how soon the banks will be infusing the Rs 1,500 crore into the airline, Kharola said bankers have informed him that they want to expedite the process and only some required documentation needed to be completed.
The airline said the fund will be used to pay off the lessors, vendors, salaries to the employees, among other important things. However, analysts claim that the airline needs about Rs 6,000 crore to bring it back to profitability and mere Rs 1,500 crore is just enough to take care of the basic necessities.
Goyal, along with his wife Anita and Etihad Airways nominee Kevin Knight stepped down from the Jet Airways Board on Monday, paving the way for the infusion of Rs 1,500 crore the lenders led by SBI. Further, an interim management committee is being set up by the lenders to manage the daily operations of the crisis-ridden airline until the lenders are able to sell/issue shares to a new investor/s, with the entire process to get completed by June.
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