Jet Airways is in the advanced stages of negotiations with aircraft manufacturers and lessors to lease planes and anticipates starting operations again soon. The Jalan-Kalrock group now owns the one famous carrier, and the DGCA revalidated its air operator licence in May of this year. The management announced that Jet Airways operations will start before the end of the year and that the initial fleet plan was almost complete. However, the airline had earlier stated that it planned to begin operations in October.


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Amid reports of the launch being delayed, a spokesperson for the consortium said the airline is very close to finalising its initial fleet plan in preparation for opening for sale soon and restart of operations in the coming weeks.


"There is no deadline; target dates are set by us alone, and we have always maintained that this is a marathon, not a sprint. We had said we were targeting to launch by October 2022, and we are tracking quite close to that," the spokesperson said. One of the executives quoted earlier said the airline is in an advanced stage of discussions for leasing aircraft, and an announcement is likely soon.


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According to the spokesperson, starting or re-starting an airline is a complex business, and that it wants to get the best possible terms and contracts for both aircraft and engines. These include maintenance contracts and configuring aircraft to meet strategic requirements.


"If that takes a little more time to get right, that is fine," the spokesperson said. In June, PTI reported that Jet Airways was in discussions with aircraft makers and lessors to lease 6-8 planes. Jet Airways shuttered operations in April 2019 after being bogged down by financial woes and was later acquired by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium through the insolvency resolution process.


With inputs from PTI