After the consortium of Indian lenders, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), refused to provide critical interim funding, Jet Airways suspended all flights yesterday. The airline said that it is unable to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going.
In a statement, the airline said that the decision to ground the airline was taken after a “painstaking evaluation of all alternatives that were made available to the company and after receiving guidance and advice on the same from its Board of Directors”. The statement goes on to explain that the company has tried “every means possible to seek both interim and long-term funding” over the past several weeks and months but it is now “left with no other choice but to go ahead with a temporary suspension of flight operations”.
Jet Airways will keep essential services needed to support guest services and the re-commencement of the flight operations running until further notice, but otherwise the company is awaiting the outcome of the bid finalisation process by SBI and the consortium of Indian lenders, which will conclude on May 10, 2019.
In its response to the airline, the lenders said: “We are actively working to try and ensure that the bid process leads to a viable solution for the company.”