The National Aviator’s Guild (NAG), the Jet Airways’ pilots’ union, on Tuesday sent a legal notice to the airline’s CEO Vinay Dubey over non-payment of salary dues of the last three months.

This, even as Mr. Dubey wrote to employees on Tuesday about the airline’s priority in paying their arrears, albeit without any mention of a timeline.

“This situation is leading to extreme stress, anxiety and frustration amongst my client’s member pilots — hardly an ideal situation for pilots in the cockpit,” the legal notice sent by NAG read.

It further said, “In these circumstances, my client calls upon the management of Jet Airlines to pay the salaries outstanding for the months of January, February and March 2019 by April 14 [and future monthly salaries by the first of each proceeding month], failing which my client shall be constrained, instructed to inform you, to resort to all constitutional and legal methods available to it to ensure payment of the salaries to its members.”

‘Two principal streams’

Mr. Dubey said on Tuesday that the airline was focussed on two principal streams — securing interim funding to sustain, and eventually increasing the current level of operations, together with supporting the bank-led balance sheet restructuring efforts to bring in fresh equity into the airline.

In a late evening e-mail to employees, Mr. Dubey, without mentioning any timeline on paying their outstanding dues, said: “Once we restore the much-needed network stability of the airline, our highest priority is to get more planes flying and to pay your salary arrears.”

On the bank-led balance sheet restructuring efforts, Mr. Dubey said that the process had entered a new phase with the lenders inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) this week.

“Both processes outlined are complex and are taking longer than what everyone expected. However, please be assured that we continue to work closely with the lenders in a constructive manner for a resolution of our situation,” the CEO said.

“While there have been impediments to the process, we are navigating around them to secure the funding that we need, as soon as possible,” he added.

Mr. Dubey said what gave him a sense of optimism was that Jet Airways still had all the resources needed to run an airline of scale. “We have a sufficient number of aircraft on lease, airport slots, and above all, we have the best and most dedicated, experienced and diligent employees in aviation. These are indeed unique assets that will go a long way in instilling confidence among prospective investors,” he wrote, promising to update on how these processes had developed, by early next week.

“No doubt there are still many uncertainties ahead of us, but let us take comfort in the fact that we have already successfully overcome several uncertainties thrown at us over the last several months. Together, we have found a way to beat the odds, standing up for each other and our guests.

“There is hope that we will recapitalise the airline and I urge everyone to keep fighting for that hope and for each other. We have come so far … let’s keep fighting a little while longer,” he wrote before signing off saying ‘Safety First.’