Nearly 200 employees of Jet Airways gathered outside the Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday protesting against the delay in reviving the airline, which suspended its flight operations last month due to a paucity of funds.
The protesters included pilots, cabin crew, engineers, who held placards appealing, “Hear Our Cry, Let 9W Fly.” 9W is the airline code for Jet Airways.
Police personnel had to barricade the entrance of Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, where the Ministry is located, to prevent the protesters from entering the premises. Three employees of the airline were allowed to meet a joint-secretary level official to present their demands.
“We had three key demands — appointment of an interim management committee, preparing a revival plan without any further delay as well as payment of our salaries, which have not been paid for the past five months,” said Ashish Kumar Mohanty, who was among the staff members who met the senior government official.
“We are currently an organisation without a management as the entire top brass has quit. Who are we supposed to tender our resignation to, who will give me an NOC (no objection certificate) if I quit? Moreover, there needs to be someone responsible for the aircraft standing on ramps at airports as well as expensive ground handling equipment,” Mr Mohanty explained.
The airline has seen several high-profile exits recently, including by the CEO and the CFO. The SBI-led consortium of banks, to which the airline owes ₹8,400 crore, is hunting for an investor for Jet Airways. A bidding process initiated by it to attract a player willing to buy the airline ended earlier this month without much success.
