Without enough aircraft to operate, Jet Airways, India’s second largest air carrier, was forced to cancel all its international flights from April 12, 2019, leaving passengers stranded in multiple airports.
Most of the carrier’s fleet is currently grounded over debts, leaving a mere fourteen aircraft to fly out of the hundred and twenty-four it had prior to the crisis. According to Indian law, an airline cannot fly on international routes if it has less than twenty operating aircraft, hence the suspension.
The final blow came when Jet Airways was forced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ground and give back a batch of eight planes. Seven Boeing 737-800 were returned to their lessors, the Irish company Avolon and the Japanese MC Aviation Partners, and one Boeing 777-300ER of Worldwide Flight Services is grounded in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), in the Netherlands.
Jet Airways also suspended some flights on the domestic market towards three regional capitals in the north-east, namely Kolkata (CCU), Patna (PAT) and Guwahati (GAU).
Indian Oil cut fuel supply to Jet Airways for the third time in a week on April 10, 2019, over non-payment of bills. Supply resumed after a few hours.
A call for applications to take over the debt-ridden airline had been sent on April 6, 2019. Proposals from investors such as Etihad and Indigo Partners were expected. The deadline for submitting an expression of interest ended on April 12, 2019.
Facing a debt of $ 1.6 billion, with wages unpaid for months for some of its employees, the prospect of a takeover of Jet Airways looks very uncertain, and bankruptcy seems more and more plausible.