Jet Airways Employee Consortium, AdiGroup to bid for 75% of airline

The airlines employees now join a consortium of the Hinduja Group and Etihad Airways, the Tata group and Qatar Airways that are reported to have shown interest in acquiring the airline.

The Tata Group and Qatar Airways are also exploring the possibility of a potential bid but are yet to take a final call yet. Qatar Airways may join the fray if it finds a suitable domestic partner, the reports added.

Jet Airways, which owes Rs8,500 crore to banks and another Rs25,000 crore in arrears to employees, vendors and lessors, has been put under the debt resolution process under the Indian Bankruptcy Code after SBI on behalf of 26 lenders filed an insolvency petition with the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 20 June.

"Jet Airways Employee Consortium and AdiGroup are delighted to announce their partnership to bid for acquisition of 75 per cent of Jet Airways through NCLT process.

"This is a new dawn in the history of Indian Aviation of operating an airline through Employee Initiative programme where every single employee of Jet Airways will become an owner of the airline.

"It truly embodies prime minister's dream 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas', a joint statement from the consortium and the AdiGroup said.

At a press conference here Capt. Ashwani Tyagi, Commander Boeing 777, General Secretary-Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots, and one of Jet's senior-most pilots who has been with the airline for 18 years, said the airlines was like a family to him and it was "challenging yet exciting journey to revive Jet Airways."

AdiGro Aviation founder Sanjay Viswanathan said the consortium will bid for 75 per cent stake, of which the London-based firm will take 49 per cent, and the rest will be with the employees' consortium.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, which holds a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airway, is not classified as part of the promoter group of the airline and falls in the public shareholder category.