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Jet Airways faces new hurdles

The last week of financial year 2018-19 saw lenders racing against time to finalise some major debt resolutions including that of the beleaguered Jet Airways. Banks battled hard against the promoters and won majority stake in the airline. However, the challenging journey of reviving the debt-ridden airline has just begun.
Meanwhile, the central bank conducted its first dollar-rupee swap auction worth $5 billion to ease some pain for banks facing year-end liquidity crunch. It is expected to continue with more such auctions going forward.
Earlier this week, Jet Airways founder and promoter Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita stepped down from the board to make way for new owners, a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI). The move would allow Jet Airways access to Rs 1,500 crore in emergency funding from banks and get some of its fleet off the ground.
However, there doesn’t seem to be an end to the airline’s problems. Its pilots have now threatened to go on strike from April 1, if their salaries are not paid. Saddled with a debt of over $1 billion of debt, Jet Airways has been struggling to stay afloat. It has delayed payments to banks, suppliers, pilots and lessors – some of which have forced the airline to ground most of its fleet. Of total 119, only about 35 are flying currently