Jet Airways Shutdown: Crew of last Jet Airlines flight posed for a photograph.
Crisis-hit Jet Airways has completed its last flight before shutting down operations in the face of financial debts worth over 8,000 crores. Flight number S2 3502 left Amritsar late on Wednesday night and arrived in Mumbai early on Thursday morning.
The crew of the flight posed for a commemorative photograph after the flight, standing next to the airplane on the tarmac.
Once the premiere commercial aviation brand in the country, the Naresh Goyal-led airline failed to secure emergency funding from its lenders, leaving it unable to pay employees' salaries, fuel charges and other critical charges to keep the airline flying.
Mr Goyal was forced to quit from his position as chairman last month as lenders took control of the airline.
Jet's employees say they have not been paid in three or four months and as many as 20,000 jobs are at stake. Employees across the country have expressed worry over their financial futures, with an unnamed Jet Airways engineer telling Reuters, "We have stopped going out for movies, to restaurants or any other form of entertainment".
A second employee, Captain Asim Valiani, who has been with the airline for 23 years, said he was "shattered". A third, who has also been with the company for over two decades, expressed worry over finding a new job so late in his life.
Protesting employees gathered outside the Mumbai offices of the airline on Thursday, asking the government to intervene in the issue.
"Where is the government when so many jobs are on the line?" a Jet Airways staff told NDTV, standing in front of the Jet Airways building along with his colleagues who were all in their uniforms.
Meanwhile, Jet employees and their family members have resorted to creative ways to ask for help. The daughter of a pilot started a petition online that appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which she writes, "We, the family of these employees of Jet are hoping for its survival each and every day".
The future of Jet Airways remains unclear as of now. With thousands of crores of debt, lenders have expressed reluctance in offering short-term bailout measures despite PM Modi calling for the same.
"Bankers did not want to go for a piecemeal approach which would keep the carrier flying for a few days and then again risk having Jet come back for more interim funding," a bank source involved in Jet's debt resolution process was quoted in a Reuters report.