Jet Airways to resume domestic operations in first quarter of 2022

Jet Airways will resume domestic operations by the first quarter of 2022, an investor consortium, whose resolution plan was approved by India's bankruptcy court earlier this year, said on Monday.

Once India's biggest private carrier, Jet stopped flying in April 2019 after running out of cash, owing billions to lenders and leaving thousands without jobs.

Elaborating on details, Mr. Murari Lal Jalan, Lead Member of the Jalan Kalrock Consortium and the proposed Non-Executive Chairman of Jet Airways said "We received the NCLT approval in June 2021, and since then we have been working closely with all concerned authorities to get the airline back in the skies. Jet Airways 2.0 aims at restarting domestic operations by Q1-2022, and short haul international operations by Q3/Q4 2022. Our plan is to have 50+ aircraft in 3 years and 100+ in 5 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. It is the first time in the history of Aviation that an airline grounded for more than 2 years is being revived and we are looking forward to being a part of this historic journey. The brand Jet Airways has a huge loyalty-base and we are confident that with industry stalwarts like Capt Gaur, we will be able to capitalize and create new benchmarks. We would like to assure all our loyal Jet Airways guests that your favourite airline will soon be back in the skies.

The revival plan for Jet Airways is being implemented as approved by NCLT and all the creditors will be settled as per the plan in the coming months.

Sharing operational details, the new Accountable Manager and acting CEO of Jet Airways, Capt. Gaur said "Jet Airways is a brand which has grown bigger and stronger over the last two decades. In its new avatar, Jet Airways will now be headquartered in Delhi NCR with its senior management working from the Corporate Office at Gurugram. However, Jet Airways will continue to have strong and significant presence in Mumbai where it will work from its 'Global One' office in Kurla. Jet Airways also has a state-of-the-art training centre located at Global One, which will be retained and used for in-house training for the Jet Airways team."

Adding further, Capt Gaur said, "We will start with domestic operations on an all narrow-body aircraft fleet leased from major global aircraft lessors who have approached us, and with whom we continue to engage. Jet Airways has already hired 150+ full time employees on its payroll and we are looking to onboard another 1,000+ employees FY 2021-22 across categories. The hiring will be in a phased manner and will be strictly on merit, to meet the operational requirements of the airline. The team at Jet Airways is committed to ensure that Jet Airways will restart its operations with its first flight from New Delhi to Mumbai by Q1 2022."