MUMBAI: India’s aviation regulator has cancelled critical authorisations to Jet Airways’ engineering department, rendering the grounded airline defunct and unable to carry out any maintenance work on aircraft, said three people aware of the matter.
The action taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will impact the airline’s most critical assets, its planes, which are in constant need of maintenance and preservation even as they are grounded. Experts said the development left very little value for Jet Airways’ flying permit.
The bankrupt airline now has 14 planes left in its fleet, primarily comprising the wide-bodied Boeing 777 planes that it owns. Most of its other planes were leased and have been deregistered by lessors as Jet Airways defaulted on monthly rentals. The airline still has around 500 engineers on its rolls.
