Jet Air posts record loss of Rs2,153 crore in March quarter

Jet Airways (India) Ltd on Tuesday posted a record quarterly loss for the three months ended 31 March, as costs jumped and the airline offered discounts amid high competition.

Jet's standalone net loss widened to Rs2,153.57 crore from Rs495.53 crore in the same period the previous year, even as total income rose to Rs4,566.17 crore from Rs3,921.92 crore in the year-ago period.

Expenses rose largely on account of higher fuel costs, which increased to Rs1,906.39 crore from Rs1,654.70 crore.

In its board meeting on Tuesday, the airline appointed Cramer Bell as its chief executive officer.

Jet said it had an equity investment of Rs1,645 crore in JetLite (India) Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary, and that it has also advanced an interest free loan amounting to Rs1,963.92 crore as on 31 March 2014.

For the full fiscal, the airline reported a net loss of Rs3,667.85 crore against Rs485 crore in fiscal 2013.

Total income increased to Rs17,713.47 crore during the year from Rs17,403.17 crore in the previous fiscal.

The private carrier, part-owned by Abu Dhabi's Etihad, took a charge of Rs700 crore on investment in loss-making JetlLte.

The carrier also posted a non-cash extraordinary write down of Rs936 crore and aircraft-on-ground (AOG) impact of Rs417.6 crore, the company said in statement.

AOG is an aviation maintenance issue that prevents an aircraft from operating.

''We need to take stringent measures to ensure our success in this challenging and competitive aviation industry. There can be no short-term solutions. The changes required will take time to implement,'' Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal said.