Jet Airways CEO Asks Employees to be Patient, Says It Might Get Tougher

New Delhi: Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube told its employees on Thursday that the situation of the crisis-ridden airline might get tougher and asked them to be patient.

In an email to the employees, Dube said, "It might get tougher before it gets better, and our ascendancy will be gradual, but collectively, with your unstinted support and commitment, we will come out of this a stronger airline."

On Wednesday, Jet Airways had decided to cancel 15 flights following grounding of six Boeing 737 planes due to non-payment of lease rentals.

Dube said that the company's chairman, board of directors and the management team are working hard on a balance sheet transaction that will help in eliminating its "current challenges".

"In fact, the airline's key stakeholders are actively engaged towards finalisation of the resolution plan. We are very close, and I ask for your continued patience. Given our ongoing challenges, this is a very tall ask," Dube wrote in his message.

Dube added "While flight cancellations, regardless of reasons, have an immense impact on guests, frontline colleagues as well as our operational and commercial teams across the network, I want to highlight to you that it has been your hard work and dedication that has put us on top of Indian aviation's reliability chart."

He added that despite some challenges faced by the airlines he was confident that it will once again be at the top of the class in terms of key operational parameters for the month of January.

The airline's three aircraft, which were temporarily grounded to carry out "an engine normalization exercise", were reinstated into its fleet on Thursday.

The full service carrier would be holding a meeting of the shareholders on February 21. It will seek shareholders' approval for conversion loan into shares or convertible instruments or other securities, according to a regulatory filing made on Monday.

The carrier would seek shareholders' nod to "convert the whole or part of the outstanding under loans, extended / to be extended by the lenders, into shares, or convertible instruments or other securities, of the company...," according to the notice of the meeting submitted to the stock exchanges.