In its latest regulatory filing, India’s grounded carrier Jet Airways reported a widened loss for the quarter ending in September. The carrier ceased operations in 2019, but for a while now, the Kalrock-Jalan consortium – Jet’s new owners – have been trying to revive the airline as they navigate through the various challenges that keep erupting due to its troubled past.
Losses widen
On Friday, Jet Airways reported a standalone net loss of around ₹ 308,00,00,000 (around $38 million) in the quarter ending September. Jet’s total income also decreased in this quarter compared to the same period last year, with this year’s total of ₹13,52,00000 (around $1.6 million).
The airline’s performance was slightly better in the same quarter last year when it reported a net loss of around $37.8 million with a total income of around $5.5 million. The Press Trust of India had access to the airline’s filing, which said,
“The company continues to incur losses resulting in an erosion in its net worth and its current liabilities exceed current assets as of September 30, 2022.”
Photo: Getty Images
The airline also said that it was not in a position to provide consolidated financial results citing the following reasons:
“… the team is facing huge difficulty in obtaining relevant data from the said subsidiaries as also there are no KMPs/senior management personnel (in the company’s subsidiaries) from whom the relevant information can be obtained for the preparation of consolidated financial results of the company.”
Yet to resume operations
Jet Airways received DGCA’s approval in May, which granted the carrier the all-important AOC. The hope was that it would start operations a couple of months after that, but so far, no official announcement has been made.
Nothing like this has been done before, and, as such, Jet’s new owners have no previous examples to draw upon. The airline’s management seems to have a lot on its plate, from negotiating aircraft and engine deals to dealing with several financial obligations from its first stint.
Photo: Getty Images
Its plans for a relaunch are likely to be delayed further, as Jet has to deal with payments not only to its lenders but also former employees.
CNBC-TV18 has learned that Jet is staring at two payment deadlines. The first ended on November 11th to pay around $6.4 million to former employees, and the second one is on November 16th to pay almost $23 million to various lenders.
This is according to its own declaration when the consortium told the courts that its resolution plan would be effective on May 20th, 2022, and it had intended to pay its employees within 175 days and lenders within 180 from that date.
Here’s hoping that the carrier manages to find some solution for these challenges and can start flying again.
What do you think about Jet Airways’ current situation? Please leave a comment below.
Source: CNBC-TV18
