Jet Airways, like many other global and domestic carriers that have folded in the past few years, missed the opportunity to cut costs when the going was easy, especially when jet fuel prices fell to multiyear lows in 2015-2016. Boosted by rare profits around that time, the airline kept its focus on expansion rather than consolidation or restructuring.

Jet Airways' strategy is reflective of a fundamental problem across the aviation industry where airlines wait until the times are tough to reduce costs and more than often fail to do so.

"One of the lessons is that even if growth rates of markets and of the airline are spectacular, an essential focus should be on the bottom line, Peter Morris, chief economist at aviation consultancy Ascend by Cirium, told DW. "In only two years did Jet show a profit… So no matter what its traffic growth rate was, it should have concentrated on achieving and maintaining profitability."