Jet Airways Hopes of Rescue Extinguished

The hopes of groups around the world attempting to pick up the pieces of beleaguered Indian low-cost carrier, Jet Airways have all but come to an end.

In a succession of blows to the company in a short space of time, Jet Airways has finally come to the end of the road, and any potential rescue now impossible. It has been announced by Hardeep Singh Puri, the Indian minister of state for aviation, that Air India has been awarded its former seat rights, an effective admission that it is the end of the road in any revival bid.

The additional 20,000 seats per week is a huge boost for Air India and Air India Express, but now makes any possible attempt to revive Jet utterly uneconomical, especially as its domestic slots from Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru have also now been re-allocated.

It is thought that SpiceJet, IndiGo and Vistara have especially benefited from the re-allocation of domestic slots formerly operated by Jet Airways.

To make matters worse, Jet Airways was also summarily evicted from its headquarters at the Siroya Centre in Andheri, a suburb to the west of Mumbai. Despite protections afforded to companies going through bankruptcy proceedings in India, it has been reported that Jet Airways defaulted on its lease prior to the bankruptcy petition reaching court.

The headlines in recent days in the Indian press have been about delays in previously booked passengers receiving their ticket refunds. With no funds to issue those refunds, and no offices to operate out of, the company is now effectively no more.

The only two viable suitors with an outside interest in acquiring the company, Etihad Airways and the London-based Hinduja Group, neither have come forward with viable proposals to not only restart operations, but handle the growing £945 MILLION debt mountain that it has amassed.

So with Jet Airways now homeless, money-less, route-less, staff-less, aircraft-less, no airport slots and with no infrastructure, it really is the end for the 27-year-old carrier.