JetLite's last remaining aircraft has been removed from the Indian register, ch-aviation research has revealed. Formerly VT-JGJ (msn 32578), the 17.7-year-old B737-800 is owned by GECAS and has already been added to the Austrian register as OE-IBT. It is currently stored at Mumbai International.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that JetLite's parent carrier, Jet Airways (Mumbai International), still has five registered aircraft - two A330-200s, two B737-800s, and a single B737-900 - despite having been grounded since mid-April of this year.
Despite its bleak outlook, Jet employees have teamed up with UK-based AdiGroup in a last ditch effort to save the carrier from total collapse. After every attempt to attract external investors failed, a successful offer from Jet Airways' staff is the carrier's only chance for a restart.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported last week that the Jet Airways Employee Consortium together with AdiGroup had bid for a 75% stake in Jet Airways. If the process succeeds, AdiGroup will take a 49% stake in the airline (the legal limit for a foreign investor), while the employees will own a further 26% stake.
"We are delighted that AdiGroup stepped up to partner with us in this challenging yet exciting journey to revive Jet Airways," Captain Ashwani Tyagi said.
The consortium submitted its bid to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which is leading the bankruptcy proceedings.
The ANI news agency has previously reported that Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in the Lok Sabha, the Indian parliament, that the revival of Jet Airways was only possible through the NCLT-led process.
Puri added that the interim financing was not enough to keep the airline operational because Jet Airways' promoters, the Goyal family, had not paid up their share.
"To mitigate immediate operation crisis faced by the company an interim funding of INR15 billion rupees (USD217 million) was proposed. Out of NPR15 billion rupees required for interim funding, promoters were expected to bring in NPR7.5 billion rupees (USD109 million) and the lender would provide the remaining amount. However, the promoters did not bring in full amount of their share. Therefore, the lenders consortium led by State Bank of India could not infuse the committed interim fund," Puri said during the parliamentary hearing.
Puri added that the government will not participate in the bankrolling of the airline's restart.
Sanjay Vishwanthan, Chairman of Adi Partners, estimated that Jet Airways will need between INR25-50 billion rupees (USD362-725 million) to restart operations. The consortium said that it had the necessary financing.
Jet Airways owes INR85 billion rupees (USD1.2 billion) to banks and INR250 billion rupees (USD3.6 billion) in total, including other creditors. The sum also includes up to INR7 billion rupees (USD101 million) owed to employees.
According to India Today TV, the NCLT began the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process on June 20, 2019, and has 270 days to either find a new investor or proceed with the final liquidation of the company.
