Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International) is nearing an agreement with its bank lenders, which would see them converting part of the loans granted into equity in the struggling Indian carrier, The Business Standard has reported.
Separately, Reuters has also reported that Etihad Airways, which currently holds a 24% stake in Jet Airways, was willing to inject additional capital into the airline and increase its shareholding. The representatives of both airlines met with the State Bank of India to discuss the current cash flow issues and the further steps for the airline in early December.
Jet Airways reportedly presented a new business plan to the bank, which would include delaying new aircraft deliveries and restructuring of the network focussed on reducing frequencies.
Earlier, Tata Sons and Yusuf Ali's investment vehicle Lulu Group International both said they were not interested in injecting equity into Jet Airways, The Hindu has reported.
The airline is hoping to secure the fresh capital by mid-January. It said it was currently paying all statutory obligations, such as taxes, but was incurring debts with salaries and payments to suppliers.
CEO Vinay Dube told pilots at the end of November that he hoped to clear all salary debts within 45-60 days, i.e. by the end of February 2019.
At the end of September 2018, Jet Airways had around INR81 billion rupee (USD1.1 billion) in debts, with over INR15 billion rupees (USD210 million) due for repayment by the end of March 2019. The carrier is 51%-owned by founder and chairman Naresh Goyal.
