Lessors to Jet Airways applied to the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to de-register more aircraft leased to the beleaguered airline. On Wednesday, lessors applied to de-register 13 aircraft of the Boeing 737-700 and 800 series. Fly Aircraft Holdings Nineteen Ltd, Wells Fargo Trust Company, CIT Group Finance, Fly Aircraft Holdings Seventeen Ltd, and Jade Aviation are amongst the few companies that have approached the regulator. So far a total of 24 requests have been made to DGCA for deregisteration of aircraft
Two aircraft leased by Avolon and five aircraft leased by MCAP have been de-registered. Requests for 5 aircraft from ACG, 4 aircraft from SMBC, 7 aircraft from Aergo Capital, 3 aircraft from BBAM, and 5 aircraft from Avolon are with the DGCA.
According to an industry source, “The lessors have requested to de-register these aircraft because of lack of faith in the airline. If there is no Expression of Interest, the lessors might ground these aircraft and request the DGCA to deregister more aircraft.”
According to the last update, only 26 aircraft out of 119 were operational.
Meanwhile, cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has seized a Jet Airways Boeing 777 at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport because of unpaid fees.
In a statement, WFS said: “A Jet Airways passenger aircraft was seized at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport today following a court order issued by Haarlem Court in favour of Worldwide Flight Services in relation to the outstanding payment of handling fees.
“We regret having to take this course of action and apologise for any inconvenience to the airline’s customers. We hope Jet Airways will be able to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
Jet Airways issued the following statement: “Jet Airways’ flight 9W 231 AMS BOM of April 10 2019, has been delayed due to operational reasons. Guests have been informed of the same and have been taken care of and served with refreshments during their wait. The airline will further update guests with revised timings. Jet Airways regrets inconvenience caused to its guests.”
The Indian airline is reeling under a financial crisis and the only hope for it to stay afloat is for the lenders to get a new strategic investor as quickly as possible.