Hope to see Jet Airways flying again by year end, says airline's resolution professional

With the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) giving its go-ahead for the resolution plan, Jet Airways could be back in the skies by the end of this year if everything goes well, according to the airline's Resolution Professional Ashish Chhawchharia. Chhawchharia is managing the affairs of the grounded Jet Airways since the resolution process started under the insolvency law two years ago.

On Tuesday, NCLT's Mumbai bench approved the resolution plan submitted by a consortium of UK's Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan.

"We are delighted with the go-ahead to the plan. Certainly, we are quite hopeful of the airline's revival. And if all go well, we hope that by the end of this year, we can see some Jet Airways flights in the skies again," Chhawchharia told.

Though it is difficult to say by when the issues of slots will be resolved, he said he was hopeful since the effective date for implementation of the plan is 90 days from the date of approval.

"Everyone will work towards that (resolution of the slot issue as well)," he noted.

The resolution plan was approved by the airline's Committee of Creditors (CoC) in October 2020.

In an oral order on Tuesday, the NCLT bench said that if further extension of the effective date is required, the resolution applicant (Jalan Kalrock Consortium) can approach the tribunal again.

On the historicity of slot allocations for Jet Airways, the tribunal said it was not giving a direction and the issue will be handled by the government or the appropriate authority.

Slots will be crucial for the revival of Jet Airways once it restarts operations. The slots that were with the airline prior to the suspension of operations in April 2019 have been allocated to other carriers.