22,000 employees stare at bleak future as Jet flies into the night

NEW DELHI: After raging against the dying of the light for several months, Jet Airways flew gently into the night on Wednesday— at least for now. India’s longest-serving private carrier shut down operations after a 26-year journey, during which it flew 650 flights a day at its peak. The shutdown leaves a huge question mark over the future of over 16,000 direct and 6,000 contractual employees.
Jet will take to the skies again only if it finds a new buyer who revives it.
“Late (Tuesday) night, Jet was informed by SBI, on behalf of the consortium of Indian lenders, that they are unable to consider its request for critical interim funding… the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect, Jet Airways is compelled to cancel all international and domestic flights. The last flight will operate Wednesday,” Jet said in a regulatory filing to BSE on Wednesday night while announcing the temporary shutdown.
The airline had on Tuesday sent a final SOS to lenders for Rs 983-crore emergency funding to remain afloat.