The downfall of Jet Airways: Here's how things went worse
New Delhi : Jet Airways India's major airline service provider is no bigger. On Tuesday, the airline has grounded 15 more planes leaving just 20 planes in its operational fleet. It has therefore become the smallest operating pan-Indian carrier, ineligible to fly on international routes.
Indian rules say an airline has to have a 20-aircraft fleet and 120 daily domestic flights to fly international. And, Jet is undoubtedly going against the norms. The debt-laden airline is losing its control day by day. To summarize, we bring to you a brief timeline of this 25-year-old Jet Airways which was once crowned as second-largest airline in India after IndiGo.
1992: Jet Airways was incorporated as a limited liability company on 1 April
1993: It started operations as an air taxi operator on 5 May operating flight 9W321 from Bombay to Ahmedabad.
1994: It became India's second largest private airline, having carried 1.7 million passengers. And, on 12 May 1994, all of Jet Airways' shares were transferred to Tailwinds International, whose equity capital was held by Naresh Goyal (60%), Gulf Air (20%) and Kuwait Airways (20%).
1995: The airline was granted a scheduled airline status on 14 January 1995
1996: In 1996, the airline placed a $375 million order for four 737-400 and six 737-800 aircraft from Boeing, which were delivered between 1997 and 2000
1999: Jet Airways announced an order worth approximately $550 million for ten Boeing 737-800 aircraft
2001: The airline fleet had grown to 30 aircraft and was operating over 195 flights daily to 37 destinations within India
2004: The airline launched its first international flight from Chennai to Colombo.
2005: The airline started its first international, long-haul flight to London
2006: Jet Airways announced its intention to acquire Air Sahara for US$500 million in an all-cash deal
2008: Jet Airways announced its plans to integrate JetLite into Jet Airways. In the same year, the airlines entered into an alliance with rival Kingfisher Airlines for code-sharing on domestic and international flights.
2009: Jet Airways launched another low-cost brand, Jet Konnect. It operated a fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation and ATR 72 aircraft
2010: Jet Airways became the largest airline in India with a passenger market share of 22.6%
2011: It became the first domestic airline in India to ban meat products and liquids in check-in baggage.
2012: Jet Airways merged the JetLite brand into Jet Konnect and started offering business-class seats
2013: Jet announced that it was ready to sell a 24% stake in the airline to Etihad for US$379 million. In the same year, the airline lowered prices and entered into fare war with low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet due to falling passenger demand.
2014: Jet Konnect was fully merged with Jet Airways, making it the third full-service airline in India besides Air India and Vistara.
2015: Jet Airways announced the closure of its scissor hub at Brussels Airport and the opening of new hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
2016: It became the second largest airline in India after IndiGo with a 21.2% passenger market share.
2018: Jet Airways has been reported as facing a negative financial outlook due to increasing losses.
2019: Nearly a fourth of Jet Airways' aircraft has been grounded due to unpaid lease rate
As of now, source has confirmed that Executive Board in a bid to secure funds for the debt-laden airline has asked Mr Naresh Goyal and his wife Anitha Goyal to step down from the Board of Directors. Alongside, interested parties like TATA group are likely to invest on the airline. Till the latest news comes up, stay tuned with us on NewsHeads.
