Jet Airways collapse: How one of India’s top airlines went from market leader to court-ordered liquidation

As IndiGo grapples and travellers struggle with days of nationwide disruption in services, netizen have begun recalling India’s past airline collapses, none more defining than Jet Airways. Social media is once again flooded with memes urging Jet Airways to ‘return’. However, the situation today, offers a reminder of how even India’s most admired and successful carriers can unravel. Once celebrated as the country’s premium full-service airline, Jet Airways suspended operations in April 2019 after a 25-year run. What followed were failed rescue bids, a drawn-out insolvency process, and ultimately, a Supreme Court-ordered liquidation in November 2024.

After India opened the skies to private airlines in the year 1992, Jet Airways was founded by Naresh Goyal, a former travel agent who began as a general sales partner for international airlines. It was launched in 1993, initially as an air-taxi operator, however the airline soon evolved to become one of India’s earliest private carriers at a time when the airline industry was mostly dominated by state-owned players. Over the next two decades, Jet created a reputation for premium in-flight service in India, with a strong domestic connectivity and an expansive international footprint. In 2004 international flights operation began. The airline flew to 63 destinations in India and abroad, according to a study.

The airline’s troubles grew as it maintained a full-service model in a market increasingly driven by affordability. In-flight meals, higher operating costs and an aggressive international expansion placed financial pressure on the airline. Competition from low-cost carriers such as IndiGo and SpiceJet eroded Jet’s market share. By the late 2010s, the airline was struggling with mounting debts and delayed payments to employees, vendors and lenders.

Jet Airways acquired the failing Air Sahara in 2007 for a whooping Rs. 1,450 crore. Mergers in the Indian airline industry has historically seen to have failed. From the merger of Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan to Air India, it has been a failure for the companies involved. Sahara was rebranded as Jet Lite to compete with low-cost carriers but it was a great setback since customers could not connect with 'Jet Lite'.

According to Reuters, early 2019 meetings between Jet Airways, its biggest lender State Bank of India(SBI), and several aircraft lessors turned tense. Sources told Reuters that the'usually jovial' founder Naresh Goyal’s emotional outburst during one such meeting 'went horribly wrong', further eroding confidence among lessors. Reuters reported that several global lessors subsequently began repossessing aircraft, pushing Jet to cancel hundreds of flights. With more than $1.2 billion in debt and rapidly dwindling revenue, pressure mounted as the airlines also owed money to banks, pilots and suppliers.

By April 2019 came the final nail on the coffin, when the airline had finally run out of emergency funding. On April 17, Jet Airways operated its final service, flight S2-3502 from Amritsar to Mumbai, which landed shortly after midnight. It later publicly stated that it was suspending its operations due to lack of critical funding required for fuel and essential services.

Lenders initiated insolvency resolutions soon after being grounded. Jet Airways owed more than Rs. 8,500 crore to financial creditors, according to reports, apart from dues to vendors and customers. In 2021, the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) won the bid to revive the airline under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC). However, disagreements with lenders and delays in meeting financial commitments stalled the revival plan.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court, invoking Article 142, ordered the liquidation of Jet Airways after finding that the resolution plan could not be implemented. The Court allowed lenders to encash a Rs. 150-crore performance bank guarantee and ordered forfeiture of Rs. 200 crore infused by JKC. While this brought closure to the airline’s prolonged insolvency, many customers are still awaiting refunds, with cases pending in various state consumer disputes redressal commissions.