Jet Airways Relaunch Remains Uncertain as Jalan-Kalrock Seeks More Time to Pay Lenders

The indefinite wait to see Jet Airways back in the skies continues for a while longer.

Jalan-Kalrock consortium, who won the bid to takeover and restart the airline informed India’s bankruptcy court that it needs more time to repay creditors and implement the resolution plan.

According to the January 13 verdict of the NCLT, the consortium is supposed to make the first tranche of the payment to lenders before May 15, which is four days away.

However, the consortium has now filed an application before the tribunal, seeking exclusion of the period between November 16 and April 13 from the 180-days period to pay the first tranche.

November 16 is the date fixed by the NCLT in its January 13 order as the effective date for implementing the consortium’s resolution plan.

But why is the consortium seeking exclusion of period till April 13?

The consortium, in its application before the NCLT, accessed by CNBC-TV18 has put the onus on the lenders for the delay in implementation of the resolution plan.

JKC claims that the lenders shared bank account details of the airline, the first of many moves to implement the resolution plan, on April 13 – 148 days after November 16. Without the bank account details, the consortium would not be able to infuse the funds.

Since banks took 148 days out of the specified 180 to begin the resolution process, JKC said it only had a month to implement the plan, which was neither feasible, nor viable.

This isn’t the first time that the consortium has blamed lenders for the delay. Earlier, the court had excluded the period between May 20 and November 16, 2022, giving the consortium an additional 180 days to make the payments.

The consortium says that after informing lenders of fulfilling all conditions and being ready to make payments on May 20 last year, the lenders did not approve of the same citing all conditions not being met.

Banking sources have repeatedly denied JKC’s claims, saying the consortium has not shown them any money so far and that airline’s ownership will only be transferred after they receive the first tranche of payment.

CNBC-TV18 had earlier reported that the lenders are expecting Rs 270 crore from the consortium in the first tranche, which includes payment to lenders, workmen, operational creditors and the CIRP cost.

As per the instructions of the Supreme Court, the consortium also has an added responsibility of paying over Rs 200 crore towards Provident Fund and gratuity to employees.

What makes the situation further challenging is that Jet Airways’ Air Operator’s Certificate expires on May 19, and renewing this license won’t be easy as the airline will have to convince the DGCA about it’s ability to fly which in Jet’s case may not be possible as yet.

Sources also say that Jet 2.0 team is almost deserted with no senior executive left in the airline after CEO-designate Sanjiv Kapoor quit last month.

It has been nearly two years since the NCLT had approved the resolution plan of Jalan-Kalrock but the airline is still far from taking off and hopes to see it in the skies again are only fading.