The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday said the debt-ridden Jet Airways has assured the Centre that it would not ground anymore aircraft, IANS reported. Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said the airline has promised to increase its seating capacity too.
Kharola made the statement after his meeting with officials from the airline, State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar and Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief BS Bhullar, ANI reported.
“Today, 35 planes are flying,” Kharola said, adding that the airline will submit a concrete plan by next week. “Once the plan is submitted, DGCA will start working on approvals to ensure that the airline flies.”
The airline has proposed to fly 40 more planes by April-end, which will bring it to “about 80% of the capacity”, Kharola said. “It is an aggressive target. We have told them to sit with the lessors, plan the details and convince them to withdraw grounding notices. Once withdrawn, Jet will need to approach the Directorate General of Civil Aviation which will then authorise them to use the planes.”
Jet Airways had on Monday said its founder Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal had resigned from the board of directors. The airline said an interim committee will be set up to manage the operations of the debt-ridden airline. The airline, which has 119 aircraft, has reduced its operations due to a liquidity crunch.
State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar had earlier said the lenders of Jet Airways will make every effort to keep the airline flying. SBI is the private airline’s biggest lender, and is leading the efforts to evolve a comprehensive plan to revive the airline.
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