ON A WING AND A PRAYER

DESPITE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES, THERE IS RENEWED HOPE OF THE ICONIC JET AIRWAYS TAKING OFF AGAIN 

- MANISH PANT

For nearly 26 years since it took to the skies, Jet Airways was represented by its blue and yellow ‘Flying Sun’ logo, which denoted both its professionalism and its warmth. But the airline that was first eclipsed by its collapse in April 2019, is now overshadowed by the uncertainty surrounding its revival. And each time an airline goes bust, one is reminded of the words of legendary U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur, “I shall return!” which he told his troops and the people of the Philippines in March 1942, after fleeing the island nation following its occupation by Imperial Japan during World War II.

But alas, that has seldom happened in the aviation industry, as even once celebrated carriers such as Pan Am, Air Berlin, Swiss Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines, among others, have never returned from the dead. The dog-eat-dog nature of the industry simply doesn’t allow for it.