INDIA'S JET AIRWAYS DESPERATELY SEEKING FINANCIAL LIFELINE

NEW DELHI, April 17 (Bernama) -- Jet Airways, once India's top airline, faces a bleak future if it fails to receive an urgent financial lifeline.

International services remain suspended as the 25-year-old airline is operating just half a dozen aircraft on domestic routes.

It has a fleet of 119 aircraft but most have been grounded due to non-payment to leasing companies.

Bankers held a meeting with the airline management on Monday but could not agree on providing 15 billion rupees (US$215 million) in emergency funding.

"Please note that in view of the critical liquidity position of the company, its operations have been severely impacted. Meanwhile, the company is awaiting emergency liquidity support from the consortium of domestic lenders led by State Bank of India," Jet Airways said in a statement on Tuesday after Indian media reported that the airline could shut down its operations temporarily.

"The company's leadership, in consultation with its board of directors, is engaged with lenders in connection with the said emergency funding request to arrest further deterioration of its services and minimize inconvenience to its guests," it said.

The airline said it is in "constant engagement" with the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation in this regard.

Some creditors have sought the airline's founder Naresh Goyal, who resigned as chairman last month, to pledge more shares as collateral before new loans, local media reported.

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said he has asked the ministry secretary to review issues related to Jet Airways and "to take necessary steps to protect passenger rights and safety and to work with all stakeholders for their well being."

With 22,000 employees facing an uncertain future, the airline's pilot union has appealed to the banks and government for immediate financial help.

Jet Airways has piled up a debt burden of US$1.2 billion.

It has sought urgent funding of around four billion rupees (US$57 million) from banks and the matter is between the company and its creditors, civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola told Indian media on Tuesday.

More than 300 pilots have left the airline in four months and the rate of resignations may pick up if pilots and engineers, who have not been paid since January, do not get their salaries soon, one person familiar with the situation told Bernama.

For an airline that has been a formidable player in the Indian market, it's now a fight for survival.

-- BERNAMA