Jet Airways, under their new promoters Jalan-Kalrock consortium, has obtained safety approvals from the Interior Ministry, company sources said Business line. The security clearances have come “a few days ago”, the official said.
The airlines are sticking to their plan to launch commercial operations in the July-September quarter of this fiscal year. The security clearance from MHA also means an approval for the change in the company’s or company’s shareholding pattern for licensing operator of schedule.
“A correspondence from the ministry was received on May 6, and it also gave an approval for the new stock pattern or ownership of the company,” the official said. Business line has contacted Jet Airways management for a comment and is awaiting a response.
Earlier this month, the airline had conducted a test flight from Hyderabad – the airline’s first since April 2019, before going bankrupt due to which flights were grounded. A test flight is performed to prove to the Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) – the country’s aviation regulator – that the aircraft and its components are operating normally.
Proven flights
The Jalan-Kalrock consortium, it may be recalled, had emerged as the winner of the National Company Law Tribunal – supervised insolvency settlement process in June last year. Jet Airways must now clear the process of extending the Air Operator Certificate (AOC). The test flights – to achieve AOC – are expected at the end of this month. It must perform five flights to get the approval, officials said.
In a test flight, airline personnel shall behave in the same manner as when conducting commercial operations to demonstrate preparedness and safety standards. This involves check-in desk staff, engineers, pilots and cabin crew performing their duties. Passengers will include airline personnel and DGCA officials.
The airlines team is already working with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and DGCA to get all the necessary approvals. Jet Airways will use a Boeing 737 (VT – SXE) aircraft during the test flights. The aircraft, previously operated by the company’s old management, was subsequently leased to SpiceJet.
Published on
May 8, 2022