Jet staff oppose allocation of slots to others

New Delhi, April 22

A Jet Airways employees’ union has asked aviation regulator DGCA to stop allocation of the airline’s slots to other carriers till the bidding process for stake sale is complete.

The All India Jet Airways Technicians Association (AIJATA) also cautioned that in case the allocation is not stopped, it would be forced to resort to legal means for a resolution.

Cash-starved Jet Airways suspended operations last week and the authorities are in the process of allocating the airport slots vacated by the carrier to other airlines, amid efforts to increase capacity to meet peak season traffic.

Jet Airways’ lenders have invited bids for selling stake in the ailing airline and the final bidders are likely to be known by second week of May. The SBI is the lead lender.

In a communication to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the grouping has requested the regulator to immediately pause the slot allocation process till the bidding process is complete and to protect the value of the company. “Otherwise we will be forced to knock the legal doors for a resolution,” it said.

The slots allocated to Jet Airways are its properties and the airline is yet to close, AIJATA, which has around 800 members, said.

The grounding of planes by Jet Airways has resulted in capacity reduction in the domestic sector, which has also led to a spurt in airfares in many sectors. Last week, a senior government official said 440 slots of Jet Airways that are vacant at Delhi and Mumbai airports would be allocated to other airlines in a transparent manner.

Separately, in an open letter, some employees of Jet Airways have asked SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar to provide the promised funding to the airline and hasten the process of getting new investors on board.

Meanwhile, a plea was filed in the Delhi High Court today, seeking direction to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA to ensure refund or alternative mode of travel to passengers who had booked tickets with Jet Airways.

The plea said the sudden suspension of air services of Jet Airways has resulted in a major crisis for the passengers who were not informed about it earlier. — PTI

Passenger growth lowest in 4 years

• Domestic air passenger traffic growth managed to remain in the green in March, growing flat 0.14%, largely due to the huge capacity reduction following the troubles at Jet Airways
• The data released by the DGCA showed the cumulative traffic of 11 domestic airlines stood at 11.59 million in March compared to 11.58 million passengers a year ago
• The March numbers are a big setback to the industry, which had been clipping at over 20% for more than four years in a row