Employees of cash-strapped Jet Airways Saturday protested outside Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi seeking release of pending salaries.
The beleaguered airline, which is flying just six-seven aircraft on Saturday, has asked its lenders to grant some "interim funding". Its employees are expecting to be paid their pending salaries once the fresh funding comes through.
Employees of Jet Airways gathered outside Terminal 3 in their uniform for a silent protest on Saturday afternoon. They carried banners that read " Save Jet Airways, Save our future" and "Hear our cry, Let 9W fly".
9W is the code for Jet Airways flights, just like 6E is for IndiGo flights. On Friday, Jet Airways employees took out a silent march in Mumbai.
Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had earlier said that the airline would fly just 6-7 aircraft on Saturday and Sunday.
At its peak, the airline flew a 119-aircraft fleet.
On Monday, the lenders - lead by SBI - would again meet the management of Jet Airways which will present a plan to use the "interim funding", if granted.
The crisis in Jet Airways deepened on Friday as the airline could operate only 11 aircraft on Friday, leaving passengers stranded at various domestic and international airports and prompting the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the situation. According to sources, the meeting was called after Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu asked secretary of the department Pradeep Singh Kharola to review issues concerning Jet Airways.
After participating in the meeting at the PMO, Kharola held a meeting - through video conference - with the management of Jet Airways. Passengers were left stranded at airports as Jet Airways announced on Friday that it is suspending international operations till Monday. Moreover, its employees carried out a protest march in Mumbai, asking the airline to pay their pending salaries.
Naresh Goyal owns 50.1 percent in the airline, most of which is pledged with the consortium of lenders. Goyal had last month agreed to pare down his stake to 25.5 percent for an emergency fund of Rs 1,500 crore from the lenders, and leave the board but the process is yet to be completed due to procedural delays.
Airfares have been on an upswing across India for the last few weeks due to sharp decline in number of flights primarily caused by grounding of 90 per cent of the 119-aircraft fleet of Jet Airways.
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