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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said delayed salary payments at Jet Airways could pose a potential safety risk, reports The Economic Times. The aviation regulator flagged off these concerns to the Naresh Goyal-promoted airline as part of its audit of the carrier.
“Non-payment of salaries is a concern and DGCA’s audit flags it as a type 2 concern (sic),” a government official told the newspaper. Sources said the airline is yet to send its response. As per the report, type 2 concerns don’t impact the safety of the airline directly but could potential do so.
In September last year, several passengers on a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur suffered nose and ear bleeding after the crew ‘forgot’ to turn on a switch that controls cabin air pressure
An airline spokesperson told the newspaper it hadn’t received any report, adding: “The company continues to run normal operations as per schedule and with appropriate safety approvals as per DGCA. The airline is current in terms of payments as per the disbursement schedule that has been shared with the specific employee group.”
The cash-strapped airline has been struggling to pay staff salaries for the past two-months. On December 6, 2018, media reports said the company will pay salaries to its senior staff, including pilots, in instalments till April
To trim costs, the management had sought to impose a pay cut up to 25 percent for senior management but had to retract the same following protest by staff, including pilots.
On January 14, India’s second-biggest airline by market share, landed in a spot of trouble in Singapore as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit held back 18 of its CFM56 engines that power the bulk of its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft because of unpaid dues, Business Standard reported
Jet Airways’ total debt obligations hover over Rs 8,000 crore. In a recent report, rating agency ICRA pegged its total loan repayments until FY21 at Rs 6,312 crore. The company is in talks with a consortium of domestic lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) to agree to a proposal to convert debt to equity.
On January 14, CNBC-TV18 reported that Etihad Airways, which owns 24 percent in the debt-laden company, plans to increase its stake in the Indian airline. As per the report, Goyal would trim his 51 percent stake to 20-25 percent and agree to voting rights on his stake being capped at 10 percent.
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