Jet Airways’ creditors will vote this week to approve or reject two bids to revive the carrier. The vote comes over a year and a half after Jet Airways shut down and has since struggled to attract a buyer. However, two binding bids have since come forward and the creditors will now decide whether they are willing to restart the carrier. So will Jet Airways return?
Creditors to vote this week
Jet Airways finally has two bidders who have met the requirements and submitted resolution plans. The two shortlisted bidders are a consortium of Kalrock Capital and Murari Lal Jalan and a consortium consisting of Big Charter, Flight Simulation Technique Centre, and Imperial Capital Investments. The voting comes after three rounds of bids that have amounted to no formal plans.
According to Mint, Kalrock Capital-Jalan consortium has emerged as the winner of the bid. But Jet Airways’ resolution professionals have said voting goes on until 16th October and no decision has been made until then.
This voting date could be moved ahead as well if creditors cannot receive permission from their board within time. For a bid to succeed, 66% of creditors need to be back the proposal. If the bid is won, we could see Jet Airways return to the skies quite soon.
What will bidders get?
Now that we’re getting closer to the final bidding process, it might be interesting to study what assets Jet Airways still holds. The carrier owns 12 aircraft in total, with six 777s, three A330s, and three 737s. The rest of its previous fleet has since been repossessed by lessors and leased out to airlines globally.
The question over Jet Airways’ slots has been a contentious one. Before its collapse, the airline had key domestic slots in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. It also had slots are major international hubs such as London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
While Jet Airways’ domestic slots have been leased to several other competitors, most of its international slots have been removed or sold. It still remains unclear how many routes Jet Airways can resume if it does restart flights.
Jet Airways recently also reacquired the six 777s mentioned above, playing Fleet Ireland $13mn to restore engines. This could signal that the carrier is preparing to possibly start operations soon. However, the fleet will need thorough heavy maintenance since the planes have been grounded for over a year.
Is Jet Airways back?
While it might be a bit early to start planning Jet Airways 2.0, this is the first time the bidding process has made it this far. The coming weeks will tell us which bidder has won the bid, depending on which we could see a new Jet Airways strategy.
Are you excited about Jet Airways possibly restarting operations? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!