History[edit]

The airline was granted a scheduled airline status on 14 January 1995.[7][13] It entered into a
marketing agreement with KLM the same year.[14] In 1996, the airline placed a
$375 million[15] order for four 737-400 and six 737-800 aircraft from Boeing,[16] which were
delivered between 1997 and 2000. Jet Airways was the first airline in Southeast Asia to order the
737-800.[17] In the financial year 1996–97, the airline carried 2.4 million passengers and had a
marketshare of 20 percent, second highest after state-owned Indian Airlines. By this time, the
airline had a fleet of twelve Boeing 737 aircraft, operating 83 daily flights to 23 domestic
destinations.[18] In 1997, the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment (CCFI) of the Government
of India announced that foreign airlines would no longer be permitted to take an equity stake in
joint ventures with Indian aviation companies, reversing the Government's earlier policy which
had allowed carriers such as Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways and Lufthansa to hold a maximum 40%
equity stake in their joint ventures with Indian partners.[19] In October 1997, as per this directive,
Naresh Goyal took back control of Trade Winds from its foreign investors.[20][7]
At the Paris Air Show in June 1999, Jet Airways announced an order worth approximately
$550 million for ten Boeing 737-800 aircraft.[17] The airline purchased its first Boeing 737-400
simulator from CAE Inc. in 2001.[21] By April 2001, the airline fleet had grown to 30 aircraft and
was operating over 195 flights daily to 37 destinations within India.[22] Jet Airways suffered losses
for the first time since its establishment in financial year 2001–2002 as demand fell and costs
increased.[23] Jet Airways was announced as launch customer for the Embraer 175 at
the Farnborough air show in 2002,[24] with an order for 10 aircraft and 10 options[25] worth
$520 million. But the deal was postponed due the airline's financial difficulties and eventually fell
through.[26] In 2003, the Indian government decided to allow private carriers to operate
international services to countries in south Asia, such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri
Lanka. [27] and Jet began preparations to launch international services.[28] The airline launched its
first international flight in March 2004 from Chennai to Colombo.[29]
Jet Airways was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and became public company on 28
December 2004.[7] After the Government lifted the foreign ownership limits on Indian airlines to
49% from the previous 40%, the airline moved to raise funds via an IPO.[30] The company's IPO in
February 2005, which offered 20% of the airline's stock, saw strong interest from investors
leading to oversubscription in retail, non-institutional and institutional tranches[31] and raised Rs
18.9 billion, instantly making Naresh Goyal a paper billionaire.[32] Towards the end of 2004, the
government had announced that privately owned scheduled carriers meeting certain criteria
could operate to all countries apart from those in the Middle East.[33] Then in January 2005, the
Ministry of Civil Aviation granted rights to Jet Airways to operate services to London
Heathrow.[33] The airline started its first international, long-haul flight to London in May
2005[34] with two-class Airbus A340-300s sub-leased from South African Airways.[35]

Growth and expansion[edit]

In January 2006, Jet Airways announced its intention to acquire Air Sahara for US$500 million in
an all-cash deal; however, the deal fell through in June 2006.[36] On 12 April 2007, the deal was
back on track with Jet Airways agreeing to pay ₹14.5 billion (US$210 million).[37] On 16 April
2007, Air Sahara was renamed as JetLite and was marketed between a low-cost carrier and a
full service airline.[38] JetLite became a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways.[39] In August 2008,
Jet Airways announced its plans to integrate JetLite into Jet Airways.[40] In October 2008, Jet
Airways laid off 1,900 of its employees, who were later re-instated due to intervention from the
Ministry of Civil Aviation.[41][42] In October 2008, Jet Airways entered into an alliance with
rival Kingfisher Airlines for code-sharing on domestic and international flights, collaboration
on frequent-flyer program and sharing crew and ground handling equipment.[43] On 8 May 2009,
Jet Airways launched another low-cost brand, Jet Konnect.[38][44] It operated a fleet of Boeing 737
Next Generation and ATR 72 aircraft and operated on profitable short-haul routes with
higher passenger load factors.[45][46]

Consolidation[edit]
In the third quarter of 2010, Jet Airways became the largest airline in India with a passenger
market share of 22.6%.[47] In July 2012, the airline officially sought government approval to
join Star Alliance.[48] Jet Airways is not a member of Star Alliance as of 2017.[49] In June 2011, it
became the first domestic airline in India to ban meat products and liquids in check-in
baggage.[50] Jet Airways merged the JetLite brand into Jet Konnect on 25 March 2012 and started
offering business-class seats after the demise of Kingfisher Airlines.[51][52][53] In 2013, Etihad
Airways planned to buy a stake in the airline following the government's announcement in
September 2012 that foreign airlines could take a stake of up to 49% in Indian carriers. On 24
April 2013, Jet announced that it was ready to sell a 24% stake in the airline to Etihad
for US$379 million.[54][55] The deal, which was expected to be signed in January 2013, was
postponed and was completed on 12 November 2013.[56][57][58][59] Naresh Goyal retained 51%
ownership of the stock.[60] In 2013, the airline lowered prices and entered into a fare war with low-
cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet due to falling passenger demand.[61][62][63][64] In February 2013,
the airline's market value dropped by ₹4.84 billion (US$70 million) due to falling share
prices.[65][66] Jet Airways made profits in the third quarter of the financial year 2013–14, after
posting losses over the previous year.[67][68] Jet Airways announced on 11 August 2014 that it
would phase out Jet Konnect by the end of the year as part of plans to re-position itself as a
uniform full-service operator.[69] On 1 December 2014, Jet Konnect was fully merged with Jet
Airways, making it the third full-service airline in India besides Air India and Vistara.[70][71] In
December 2015, Jet Airways announced the closure of its scissor hub at Brussels Airport by
March 2016 and the opening of new hub at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport effective 27 March
2016.[72][73] As of February 2016, it is the second-largest airline in India after IndiGo, with a 21.2%
passenger-market share.[74]

Financial crisis and suspension of services[edit]

As of November 2018, Jet Airways has been reported to have a negative financial outlook due to
increasing losses. In March 2019 it was reported that nearly a fourth of Jet Airways' aircraft were
grounded due to unpaid lease rates.[75] On 25 March 2019, Mr. Naresh Goyal and his wife Anitha
Goyal stepped down from the board of directors.
On 5 April, Indian Oil Corporation stopped supplying fuel to the airline, citing non-payment of
dues as the emergency funds have still not been credited.[76] On 12 April 2019, Jet Airways
announced the suspension of all eastern-India-bound and all international flights due to a lack of
available aircraft.[77][78] On April 17, the airline has suspended all flight operations, due to lenders
rejecting Rs 4 billion of emergency funding[79] and its membership in the International Air
Transport Association (IATA) was suspended.[80] On 17 June, after getting no acceptable offers
from Etihad Airways and Hinduja Group, lenders to Jet Airways decided to refer the company
to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for bankruptcy proceedings with debt of
$1.2 billion.[81][82] As of 11 July 2019, according to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, a
total of 209 slots vacated by the airline were lying unused at 31 airports.[83]
In September 2019, Synergy group, a South American company running several airlines in South
America expressed interest in taking a majority stake in Jet Airways on the condition that the
lenders to Jet took deep haircuts on their lendings to the troubled company[84].

Corporate affairs[edit]
Headquarters[edit]
The airline's head office is located at Siroya Center in Andheri, Mumbai.[85] The head office was
previously located at S. M. Center, a rented six-storey building in Andheri and was moved
following criticism regarding working conditions.[86][87]

Livery[edit]
It was navy blue with light grey and chrome yellow.[88] The top and bottom of the aircraft were
painted in light grey with the flying sun logo in the navy blue background.
In 2007, a new livery was created by Landor Associates which added yellow and gold ribbons;
the design retained the dark blue and gold-accented colour scheme along with the airline's "flying
sun" logo.[88] A new yellow uniform was simultaneously introduced, created by Italian
designer Roberto Capucci.[88] Jet Airways introduced its new identity in conjunction with a global
brand re-launch which included new aircraft and seating.[88]