Even as the deadline for bidding ended on Friday, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) started the process of taking over offices of Jet Airways at various airports, along with cancelling Airport Entry Passes of employees .
While the Kolkata office has been sealed, the Udaipur office of the defunct airline was repossessed. In Chennai, while their passes are still valid, staff have been prevented from entering the airport.
Airport Entry Passes of Jet employees at Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jamnagar, Jabalpur, Kandla, Khajuraho, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara airports have been revoked from May 10.
The AAI, which manages around 125 airports in the country, has asked all its airports to get the space allotted to the airline vacated as soon as possible and to submit progress reports on the same.
“Of the 125 airports, Jet have occupied office space at nearly 35-40 airports. The airports will stop billing Jet Airways once they vacate their offices. It is a waste of an asset. Their articles can be kept at the premises and as and when, they resume operations, they can take that space back,” officials said. Officials said AAI has started encashing security deposits of Jet Airways.
Jet Airways staff, however, expressed surprise at the move coming on the eve of the bids ending. “Engineering and security department staff are still engaged in work due to aircraft on ground and also due to third party operations that Jet undertakes. In such a situation, shutting offices and cancelling the entry passes is strange,” an official said.
Meanwhile, Jet Airways has not issued payslips for April.
On Thursday, in a letter to the Jet Airways, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation’s regional office in Mumbai said it will initiate an enquiry to assess the total dues and also file a case with the police for non-payment of the employees’ share of provident fund.
“It is once again advised to abide by the statutory requirement of the Act; Scheme and report compliance to undersigned to avoid above unpleasant action against Establishment and responsible persons,” EPFO assistant provident fund commissioner, Dilip K. Rathod wrote to Jet Airways. According to the letter, the dues pertain to March, onwards in various accounts.
The airline halted operations last month on April 17, that is after the lenders had invited bids for Jet Airways. A section of the Jet employees on April 29 wrote to SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar offering to take over the airline.
