Grounded Jet Airways' cabin crew association moves NCLT for liquidation

Banks oppose consortium plea for handover of the company

A Jet Airways employees’ union has moved court for liquidation amid continued differences between lenders and the Kalrock-Jalan consortium over the revival of the grounded airline.

Last month, the consortium had made an application to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking control of the airline. The consortium said it has fulfilled all the conditions according to the plan and said banks should initiate steps to hand the company over to them.

According to a CNBC report, the lenders have accused the consortium of "avoiding its obligations" under the plan and opposed its plea. The matter will now be heard on December 6.

Meanwhile, the Jet Airways Cabin Crew Association has filed an application for liquidation.

The application was filed on behalf of JACCA by advocate Rahul Kamerkar. In its application, the union has said that the consortium has failed to abide by the resolution plan and, thus, is in gross violation. The union’s application is yet to be listed for hearing.

According to the union, Rs 113 crore is to be paid to the workmen and employees of the grounded airline. The union claims that the amount was to be paid within 175-180 days of the date the plan became effective (which was fixed as May 20). However, no such payment has been made to date, the union said.

In its application, the union said that the value of most of the assets of Jet Airways had already depreciated exponentially since the beginning of the insolvency resolution process. Any further delay in liquidation would only serve to further depreciate the value of the assets, it said. Also, the charges payable to the airports for parked aircraft are mounting and have been accounted for in the cost of the resolution process, the union added. An increase in payments would adversely impact employees’ interest, it said.

"We are not aware of any such application having been made to the NCLT. Therefore, we cannot comment on the matter," said a spokesperson of the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium in reference to the union’s application.

Last June, the NCLT had cleared the consortium's plan to revive Jet Airways, which had suspended operations in April 2019. The consortium had planned to launch operations in October, but the plan has faced turbulence – the latest issue being the payment of over Rs 200 crore in gratuity to the employees. This was not accounted for in the resolution plan and has been a bone of contention between the consortium and the banks.

Earlier this month the consortium sent some staff on leave without pay and also cut salaries in view of delays in the launch of the airline.