Jet Airways’ pilot threaten to legal action over unpaid salaries

The crisis worsened for Jet Airways as its pilots threatened to take legal action against the airline or go on indefinite leave if the pending salaries were not paid. The pilots wrote to company’s chief executive officer, Vinay Dube, asking him to clear the dues or be prepared for consequences that may ‘ground’ the embattled airline.

Jet Airways is struggling to pay salaries to its staff for more than three months and has been unable to pay the lease rentals to aircraft lessors, defaulting also on the interest payment in December 2018. There was a relief for the airline as a consortium of lenders, headed by the State Bank of India, took control of the company. The banks will be looking for a new investor, a process which may take till June quarter. The lenders will be pumping in Rs 1500 crore into Jet Airways to help keep it afloat.

The founder chairman of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, and his wife, who own a 52 per cent stake in the airline stepped down on March 25 after the crisis spiraled out of control. The debt of the airline exceeds USD1 billion and it has grounded some flights. Jet Airways cancelled thousands of its flights in recent weeks affecting both domestic and international passengers. Experts feel the crisis could have been averted had Naresh Goyal stepped down on time, allowing investors to pump capital into the airline.

The bail-out by banks attracted severe criticism, primarily from the opposition party Congress, which accused the government of using Indian taxpayers’ money to rescue the airline. The Congress said the government was bailing out the foreign investors of the airline, while refusing to do the same with India’s farmers who are facing an existential crisis.

Former Kingfisher Airlines chairman, Vijay Mallya, also lashed out at Indian banks in a series of tweets for their ‘double standards’ under Modi government. He said the same lend