No bail-out for Jet, management needs to run airline: Minister

According to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, the government looks at sector-specific issues in the current de-regulated policy environment. Prabhu was answering questions on a possible bail-out package for the airline at the launch event of the upgraded version of ‘AirSewa 2.0 web portal and mobile app’ here.

Besides, Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said that the airline wanted some time to pay charges of the airport operators.

However, Choubey said the issue had to be sorted out between the airline and the airport operators and that the ministry has no role in such commercial deliberations.

Currently, the airline is facing financial troubles due to an increase in Brent fuel, along with a weak rupee and a mismatch between high fuel prices and low fares.

On November 16, Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group firms, said discussions on acquiring a stake in the financially troubled airline are at a preliminary stage and that no such proposal has been made so far.

Reports of Tata’s interest in Jet Airways had boosted its market sentiments, though it had in mid-October termed such reports as mere speculation.

Launched in 1993, the Mumbai-based Jet Airways currently operates on 66 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 124 aircraft.

The pilots of Jet Airways have threatened not to perform additional duties from next month if their salary dues were not cleared by November 30, an airline source said Monday. Besides, the airline’s domestic pilots body, National Aviator’s Guild (NAG), which has so far allegedly been soft on the issue, is likely to meet here Tuesday to discuss the prevailing financial situation at the carrier, he said. The Naresh Goyal-controlled private carrier has been reporting losses since the last three successive quarters and defaulting on salary payments to a section of its staff. “Pilots have decided that they will not perform any additional duty and adhere only to the roster from December 1 if all salary dues are not cleared by November 30. The decision has been communicated to the management verbally,” a source said. Around 1,600 Jet Airways pilots along with the cash-starved airline’s engineers and senior management officials have been paid only 50 per cent of the September salary. Jet said it is “committed” to meet its obligations.