India’s Jet Airways Ceases Operations

By: Ben Schlappig

Updated: October 8, 2021
Published: April 17, 2019

42 comments

The inevitable has happened. India’s Jet Airways is ceasing operations as of today.

According to Jet Airways they aren’t actually going out of business, but rather are “unable to conduct flight operations,” so they’re viewing this as a temporary suspension.

This is happening after Jet Airways has been unable to secure emergency funding from banks to continue to operate, as just about every potential opportunity for them to stay alive has failed to materialize. This includes both looking to Indian banks and other airlines for opportunities.

Jet Airways 777

Last week I wrote about the horrible financial situation that Jet Airways was in. The airline has been looking for investors, and has racked up over a billion dollars in debt, missing payments for employees, fuel, and even aircraft lease payments. The Indian aviation market is incredibly challenging, and with increased competition from low cost carriers, Jet Airways has been in a tougher situation than ever before.

What’s interesting is the the fact that the airline has continued to operate for weeks, despite already basically being out of business. For example, last week nearly 90% of the carrier’s planes were grounded, as they were down to just over a dozen planes, from a fleet of 120 planes at the beginning of the year. Jet Airways used to be India’s largest private airline, though obviously fell a long way.

While Jet Airways views this as a temporary suspension of flight operations, it seems unlikely to me that the airline will ever fly again…

Here’s to hoping that Jet Airways employees can find new employment opportunities elsewhere. Given the global pilot shortage I’m sure pilots won’t have issues finding jobs elsewhere, assuming they’re willing to move (which I realize isn’t ideal).

My money is also on Delta using this as justification for not launching flights to Mumbai, as I question how serious they were about that in the first place.

I’ve flown Jet Airways a few times, most recently a year ago from Dubai to Mumbai on a 737 in business class, and then from Mumbai to London on a 777 in first class. Check out those trip reports if you want a trip down (Jet Airways) memory lane…

Jet Airways’ 777 first class

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Heman Guest

May 6, 2019, 5:14 pm

I booked a flight from Charlotte to Mumbai at aa.com for this summer, got a good fare, just saw that the London to Mumbai and return to London was booked on Jet. Called American Airlines and they offered to cancel and refund or they want me to pay a price difference when they rebook me on another airline. What are my options to push back on American Airlines, as I bought the ticket through them. Thanks in advance

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Frank Guest

April 20, 2019, 7:07 pm

I have flown this airline 4 times and they had the best service and were 10 on professionalism compared to a 2 for Air India. They will be missed. I will never forget Air India passengers trying to pick up my 12 year daughter and have cigarettes and lighters ready to use in the bathroom. Good Times

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Kent Member

April 20, 2019, 1:10 am

@Eskimo Come on - everyone knows the US government and the corporations are two faces of the same coin. Even the FAA is powerless this days. My experience on Air Koryo was much more pleasant than with the US3. At least flying on Air Koryo was novel and exciting. So I stand by my earlier statement that similar dissolution need to occur within the US.

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Will New Member

April 19, 2019, 7:55 am

Vistara look a good bet going forward. I flew them in Premium Economy from Deli to Goa and it was definitely the best internal flight i’ve Ever taken in India and as they begin to laugh long haul routes I certainly would choose them if they operated a route I need to use. I think the involvement of SQ shine through. Very clean cabin and excellent service. I hope they grow successfully in a tough market.

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Prabuddha Guest

April 18, 2019, 11:33 pm

A key factor which is underreported is that Etihad killed Jet. Before Etihad's investment into Jet , Jet was profit making. Once Etihad invested 25% Jet reduced its India-Europe-US flights and moved the traffic to India-Abu Dhabi continuing on Etihad. This is a low margin route unlike the Europe and US routes . Jet also had some of the first 777s which it had bought for India-US nonstop flights. Etihad took these planes over and used them for Abu-Dhabi US flights. As a result in the first 2 years of the investment (2013-2014) Jet made a billion in losses and went into debt with big banks. By 2016 Naresh Goyal the promoter had a change of heart and started moving flights back to India-Amsterdam and got into talks with AF-KLM and Delta about joining Skyteam. In the meantime they were still bleeding and needed cash infusion from the debtor banks. Banks agreed to debt to Equity conversion but Etihad blocked it. They made a condition that Naresh Goyal has to sell his shares, exit the company and hire a White CEO. When Naresh Goyal did not agree they blocked the recapitalization till Jet ran out of credit. For Etihad protecting feed to Abu Dhabi was more important than recouping any of their investment into Jet and they were perfectly willing to bankrupt Jet to make a point. (When you dont have to make profits and are backed by oil money you can afford to be a douchebag) An Etihad investment has become a sure Kiss of Death - Air Berlin, Air Italia and now Jet. Anyone who gets into bed with Etihad will surely regret it.

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