Jet Airways flew for 25 years — then a fare war grounded it for good

Jet Airways was founded in 1993 by Naresh Goyal and grew into India's second-largest airline, operating over 120 aircraft and carrying 25% of domestic passengers at its peak. It competed as a full-service carrier in a market that was rapidly shifting to low-cost models. For years it survived by serving premium routes and corporate travellers, but the structural shift in Indian aviation — dominated by IndiGo and SpiceJet — eroded Jet's pricing power and market share steadily through the 2010s.

By late 2018 Jet Airways was in a terminal cash crisis. A price war with low-cost competitors had pushed fares below operating costs. Fuel costs were rising, the rupee was weakening against the dollar (most airline costs are in USD), and nearly a quarter of the fleet was already grounded because Jet could not pay its lease obligations. The airline reported steep losses and its debt to a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India reached approximately $1.2 billion.

In March 2019 lenders took control of the board. Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita resigned on 25 March. The banks pledged ₹4 billion in emergency funding but demanded Goyal cede control first. After he stepped down, the lenders withheld the funding, and Jet Airways suspended all operations on 17 April 2019. The collapse stranded 20,000 employees and thousands of passengers. The airline never flew again.

Lenders referred Jet to the National Company Law Tribunal for insolvency resolution. The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium submitted a revival plan in 2020 and the airline even regained its air operator certificate in 2022, but no flights restarted. The certificate was not renewed in 2023. On 7 November 2024 the Supreme Court of India ordered full liquidation. The case is taught as a cautionary tale about pricing strategy in an industry where fixed costs are high and margin for error is near zero.