Chennai, Apr 6: As Jet Airways turned 26 on Sunday, hundreds of employees of the now-shuttered airline gathered at the Delhi airport continuing with their pleas for saving the carrier. However, according to news reports, two senior finance ministry officials said today the NDA government sees little hope of a bidder emerging for debt-laden Jet Airways Ltd.After running out of cash, the full service carrier temporarily shut down operations on 17 April and a bidding process is underway with final bidders expected to be known on 10 May. Meanwhile, hundreds of Jet employees came together at the departure terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi.
Employees in their uniforms displayed placards, with messages such as ‘Save Jet Airways Save our future’. Since temporary suspension of operations, airline employees have been organising gatherings at various places across the country.Parties that had initially expressed interest in Jet, which is saddled with roughly $1.2 billion (Rs 120 crore) of debt, have so far failed to make firm bids to bail it out, increasing the odds that it could soon face bankruptcy proceedings.
“There is little scope in the revival of Jet,” said one official, adding that if a bidder emerged, the government was still willing to return slots to the private airline which have temporarily been given to rivals. A second senior finance ministry official said it was only a matter of time before someone dragged Jet to the National Company Law Tribunal for recovery of dues from Jet.
It will most likely be one of Jet’s creditors and not its lenders that do so, said both the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Employee Unions have been pleading with the government to ensure the airline is rescued. Last week, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Jet’s pilots union urged the government to intervene and speed up the bid process for the airline and stop the deregistration of its aircraft by its lessors.