'Merge Jet Airways with Air India,' implores Dr Subramanian Swamy in letter to Suresh Prabhu. Read here

BJP MP Dr Subramanian Swamy on Thursday wrote a letter to the Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu, pertaining the Jet Airways crisis, urging the government to merge the ailing airline with state-owned Air India citing the interest of Jet employees and national interest.

Explaining the urgency of the matter, he wrote about the ramifications faced by the passengers and the air traffic within as well as outside the country.

“The passenger numbers are multiplying at a high rate and foreign airlines with small population are constantly looking for ways to get a share of this growing passenger traffic. Therefore, the closure of Jet Airways on the ongoing trouble of the airlines are destructing the traffic of the passengers,” he wrote.

Dr Swamy also mentioned about his ongoing India-Jet-Etihad bilateral and FDI case in the letter.

READ | Here's Whose 'efficiency And Honesty' Dr Subramanian Swamy Credits For Air India's Improved Functioning

The Rajya Sabha MP had also taken to Twitter on Monday, asking for the merger of both the airlines:

Swamy, therefore, urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to recommend the cabinet the Jet Airways should be merged with Air India to recover its losses and former premier position.

In conclusion, he said, “Any other solution is likely to raise speculation about the corruption at high places and will certainly invite litigation in the court.”

Amid uncertainty over the future course of the carrier, two employee unions titled 'Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots' (SWIP) and 'Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association' had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking intervention to recover outstanding dues of the airlines' employees as well as to expedite the process of emergency funds.

The unions highlighted that a section of employees has not been paid their salaries on time for the last three months and that the distressing situation was also brought to the notice of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in March.

"The management of Jet Airways has gone back on its salary arrears payment schedule conveyed by mail dated December 7, 2018. The outstanding amount for pilots and engineers as of now is three months salary (full salaries for the months of January, February and March), and for all other staff is one month's salary," they said.

Previously, the unions had also asked aviation regulator DGCA to stop allocation of the airline's slots to other carriers till the bidding process for stake sale is complete.

READ | Jet Employees' Union Opposes Allocation Of Slots To Other Airlines

Jet Airways had been in operation for over 26 years and a day after the airline declared the suspension of its operations, hundreds of employees had gathered in the national capital seeking measures to revive the carrier.