Chennai: Jet Airways defaulted on payment to its debenture-holders, the third of its kind since January, even as airline chairman Naresh Goyal assured employees of a resolution in the immediate possible time. However Goyal said more time is needed to clinch bailout.
Goyal, in a letter to the 16,000 staff, which came ahead of the domestic pilots body National Aviator’s Guild annual meeting, said talks with the airline’s strategic partner Etihad Airways and State Bank of India (SBI)-led lenders were going on.
Though Goyal sought more time to clinch the deal, he did not offer a time-line for the same.
“The situation, though complex, has my personal attention towards an early resolution…the complexity of the process though has led to some delays and will require further time to conclude,” Goyal said, in his letter.
“Once again I assure you that I am personally committed to have the resolution process completed as soon as possible and restore the much-needed stability to our operations at the earliest,” he said.
The UAE flag carrier owns 24 per cent in Jet and its board is considering a draft agreement as part of a debt-recast plan being mooted by the airline’s lenders.
Earlier, Jet informed the exchanges that “the payment of interest due on 19 March to the debenture-holders will be delayed owing to temporary liquidity constraints.”
The airline, which has a debt of over Rs 8,200 crore, did not specify what is the quantum of interest due on Tuesday nor quantum of the debt on this particular account.