THE CRASHING DOWN OF JET AIRWAYS - What Should Airlines Learn

Reduced aviation taxes, uniform ATF pricing and investments by corporates/institutions alike can prevent airlines from facing a turbulent future

- SHRABONA GHOSH

Putting an end to the five-year-long saga of reviving Jet Airways, the Supreme Court directed the liquidation of the airline after a consortium of UK-based Kalrock Capital and the UAE-based entrepreneur, Murari Lal Jalan, failed to implement its resolution plan. Liquidation is the process of closing a business and distributing its assets to claimants: the sale of assets is used to pay creditors and shareholders in the order of priority. The personnel across various functions such as finance, accounts, aircraft leasing, Treasury, commercial, fleet planning and fleet management, operations, spares provisioning and procurement, regulatory, interline and code share are the most affected when an airline is liquidated, particularly the senior management, because of the limited vacancies with the existing airlines. “Proactive approach, professional management, hiring of industry experts, financial prudence and management, good asset management of aircraft, sticking on to the LCC or FSC model are the mantras to prevent failure of an airline,” said Amit Ranjan Mittal, an aviation expert, with experience across aviation strategy, planning and management, aircraft leasing and financing, aviation banking, airport management and aviation consulting.