When the founder flounders

As Jet struggles, Naresh Goyal's days at the airline's helm look numbered

You don’t have to look far to see the state of Jet Airways today. The sorry situation of the airline is reflected quite starkly in the quality of the annual report. I vividly remember how thick and glossy the document used to be in the 1990s. It’s now reduced to a slim volume with a rag-like feel. In a nutshell, that’s Jet today.

The ground situation is nothing short of a horror story. The airline’s outstanding to employees and vendors — oil companies, Airports Authority of India, maintenance contractors, lessors and other suppliers — crossed Rs120 billion, a figure the airline