Jet Airways on verge of collapse but close to getting a lifeline
Like other airlines in India, Jet Airways needs help with banks set to become its biggest shareholders, but it still faces competition from low-cost rivals
New Delhi — Lenders of Jet Airways India proposed a bailout of the beleaguered carrier, potentially paving the way for a revival of the airline that was on the verge of collapse. Mumbai-based Jet Airways, which needs 85-billion rupees ($1.2bn) to help it get back on its feet, will be revamped, with banks becoming the biggest shareholders of the company, according to a filing on Thursday. The restructuring will involve a mix of debt-to-equity swap, new capital infusion and asset sales, the company said, without elaborating. The proposal, reached after weeks of negotiations, may provide a respite to the struggling carrier, which still faces intense competition from low-cost rivals, high fuel prices and local levies — conditions that brought it to its knees. Jet Airways, one of the first private Indian airlines to dominate the local market after the government ended state monopoly in the early 1990s, has more accumulated losses than any publicly traded Asian carrier apart from Pakistan...
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