Contrary to other announcements, the restart of the former Etihad Airways holding Jet Airways has not yet taken place. Legacies such as unpaid wages are proving to be a real stumbling block.

The debts result from the "old" Jet Airways, which was bought out of bankruptcy by a consortium around Jalan-Kalrock. However, the solution to this legacy seems to be much more complicated than assumed by the people involved.

The consequence of this is that the comeback flight has had to be postponed repeatedly. Although the AOC and operating license have been back for a few months, flight operations have not yet been reactivated. It is now completely unclear whether this will even be possible this year.

“There is no precedent in India for revitalizing and restarting an airline. It's taking a little longer than we originally hoped, but we're getting closer to our goal. It's a complex process and we don't want to rush into it and regret it later."

The company was explicitly instructed by a local authority that the problem of outstanding wages must be resolved before a possible restart. However, this is quite complicated, since documents are missing. It therefore remains to be seen how long Jet Airways will need to overcome this stumbling block.