Jet Airways Timeline: How "Joy Of Flying" Airline's Dreams Soured
Beleaguered carrier Jet Airways halted all operations on Wednesday after its lenders rejected its plea for emergency funding from the airline that was once the country's largest private carrier.
The airline, known for its "The Joy of Flying" tagline, has been teetering for weeks, saddled with over $1 billion in debt.
Its lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), last month agreed to bail it out in a complex deal that involved the banks taking a majority stake and providing a fresh loan of $217 million, while continuing to look for a new investor. That loan never materialised, gradually crippling the 25-year old airline's operations.
Here are some major developments in Jet's story:
2018
August 3 – Jet denies media report it cannot fly beyond 60 days, dismisses rumours of stake sale
August 11 – State Bank of India (SBI) chairman says Jet's loan is on watch list. Jet says regularly paying banks.
August 27 – Jet posts June-quarter loss, says will inject funds, cut costs by more than Rs 2,000 crore ($288 million) in two years
September 6 – Jet says paid salaries to 84 per cent of its employees after media reports that pilots warned 'non-cooperation' over salary default
November 5 – Media report says conglomerate Tata Group aims to buy 51 per cent stake in airline and merge Jet with Tata's Vistara
December 5 - Jet and UAE's Etihad Airways have been holding rescue talks with Jet's bankers, sources tell Reuters
2019
January 1 - Jet delays payment to a consortium of Indian banks, led by SBI
January 11 - Etihad not "in any position to sink new equity into Jet at this juncture", says person familiar with Etihad's position
January 17 - SBI says Jet's lenders considering plan to resolve debt issues
Feb 8 - Airline grounds four aircraft after failing to make payments to lessors
February 14 - Jet's board approves rescue deal, making its lenders its largest shareholders, to fix a near Rs 8,500 crore funding gap
March 19 - Government asks state-run banks to rescue Jet without pushing it into bankruptcy, sources say
March 25 - Founder Naresh Goyal steps down as chairman, wife Anita Goyal resigns from board. Lenders to pump in Rs 1,500 crore in immediate funding
March 30 - Jet CEO says airline will pay December salaries to employees
March 31 - Jet's pilots' union says will give carrier's new management two weeks to clear unpaid salaries, defers plan to take strike action
April 3 - Jet forced to ground more than three-quarters of its fleet as it awaits bailout funds
April 11 - Jet grounds 10 more planes, fleet size at less than 20
April 12 - Aviation secretary says Jet has funds to stay afloat till April 15, TV channel reports
April 15 - Jet plans to extend suspension of international flights, does not get interim funds
April 16 - Jet will be forced to shut down as soon as Wednesday if it does not get emergency funding from its lenders, sources tell Reuters
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