Jet soars again! Airline runs test flight 3 yrs after grounding

Jet Airways took to the skies after a three-year-long break on its 29th anniversary. The airline, which was grounded in 2019, conducted the flight on May 5, Thursday, and announced the development in a tweet.

“Today, May 5, our 29th birthday, Jet Airways flew again! An emotional day for all of us who have been waiting, working, and praying for this day, as well as for Jet's loyal customers who can't wait for Jet to commence operations again.”

IndiGo, another no-frills domestic airline, congratulated Jet on getting back on track: “Congratulations Jet Airways! Wishing you all the best as you prepare for this new start.”

Jet stated that it operated a test flight in Hyderabad, and a positioning ferry flight to Delhi thereafter. These were not proving flights. "We expect to schedule proving flights in the coming days, which would be jointly determined with DGCA," the airline said.

Proving flights are required to secure regulator's permit for aviation services.

Jet Airways was grounded on April 17, 2019, after it failed to pay vendors due to bankruptcy under founder Naresh Goyal. The Jalan-Kalrock consortium had taken over the airline in October 2020 after placing the successful bid during the corporate insolvency resolution process from June 20, 2019 until June 22, 2021. Murari Lal Jalan is a Dubai-based NRI businessman and Kalrock Capital is a financial advisory and asset management company. The consortium is awaiting regulatory clearance to resume operations.

In March, aviation veteran Sanjiv Kapoor was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet Airways. Kapoor, who earlier served as the chief strategy and commercial officer at Vistara and the chief operating officer at SpiceJet, was scheduled to join Jet from April 4, 2022.

Before that, Sri Lankan Airlines chief executive Vipula Gunatilleka was appointed as the chief financial officer (CFO) of the Indian low-cost carrier. The New Delhi-based airline has invited job applications for the positions of crew, airport staff, engineers and technicians as it plans to relaunch operations later this year.

Since the airports had allocated the earlier slots of Jet Airways to other operators, the airline is still in discussions with the authorities, said the sources in the know. The airline wants to have a pan-India route network, initially with less frequency. The new management targets to start the operations by early next year.