Jet Airways grounds 2 aircraft on fund crunch

Cash-strapped Jet Airways has grounded 2 of its widebody aircraft — a Boeing 777-300ER and an Airbus A330-300 — due to insufficient funds for the engine and other spares, industry sources confirmed. These aircraft are grounded at Chennai International, ironically behind the disputed aircraft of the now defunct Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines. While the Boeing 777-300ER has been grounded for the last 10 days, the A330 has not flown for the past 1 week, sources said. “The aircraft are also being cannibalised,” a source added. a Jet Airways spokesperson said, “The airline’s fleet undergoes scheduled maintenance and operational rotation from time to time.” However, it is to be noted that Jet does not have a hangar at Chennai and its aircraft maintenance facility at that airport is basic. <br/>