New Delhi: A crucial meeting on Jet Airways took place at the Civil Aviation Ministry attended by representatives of the SBI, Jet, DGCA and the Ministry. State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Singh, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dubey, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief B.S. Bhullar and Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola attended the meeting.
The meeting came a day after Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal resigned and lenders of the bank agreed to provide immediate funds of Rs 1,500 crore to the beleaguered airline. The SBI-led consortium has taken over the management of the airline after its promoter Goyal stepped down and ceded management control. The SBI is looking at having a new investor to take over the ailing airline in the first quarter of the next fiscal.
The key issues to be handled will be pilots’ salaries and getting the grounded planes operational by paying the lessors and vendors. Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube said that they were optimistic about the airline’s future. Jet Airways’ domestic pilots body, the National Aviators Guild (NAG), sought a meeting with State Bank chairman Rajnish Kumar over pending salaries, a day after the lenders took over the carrier founded by Naresh Goyal a quarter of a century ago.
The guild had last week announced that its over 1,100 -odd members would stop flying from April 1 of their salaries dues were not cleared and a clarity on the revival roadmap was not provided by March 31. Jet Airways’ pilots said on Tuesday they remain committed to the airline and will leave no stone unturned to ensure that it returns to its former glory.
“We look forward to a new beginning,” said Capt Tej Sood, General Secretary of the National Aviators Guild (NAG), in a letter to Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) which will lead the consortium of lenders to provide Rs 1,500 crore in emergency funding and bail out the financially-strapped airline.
Vijay Mallya criticises banks
Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya lashed out at public sector banks for “double standards” under the current NDA regime for their intervention to bailout Jet Airways while the same lenders made his Kingfisher airlines “fail ruthlessly”. In a series of tweets reacting to banks led by State Bank of India taking over management control of troubled Jet Airways,Mallya said,”…Only wish the same was done for Kingfisher”. “Happy to see that PSU Banks have bailed out Jet Airways saving jobs, connectivity and enterprise,” he said. He further said,”the same PSU Banks let India’s finest airline with the best employees and connectivity fail ruthlessly. Double standards under NDA.”
