Jet Airways airline also owes money to pilots, lessors and vendors.Cash-strapped Jet Airways proposed to creditors that it would catch up with debt payments in arrears by September and from April would meet debt payments as they come due, according to a document seen by Reuters.
Jet met with lenders, lessors and vendors in India on Tuesday to discuss its financial situation and a debt-repayment plan, two sources with direct knowledge of matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity.Jet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The airline has to make large debt repayments over next few years, starting with about Rs 1,700 crore ($242 million) by end of March, ratings agency ICRA said in a note on January 2.The airline last week said it had defaulted on a debt payment to a consortium of Indian banks, led by State Bank of India, that had been due on December 31, prompting ICRA to downgrade carrier's credit ratings and sent its shares sharply lower.The 25-year-old airline also owes money to pilots, lessors and vendors.
Intense pricing competition, a weak rupee and rising fuel costs weighed on country's airlines in 2018.An instalment of interest and principal on debt due on December 31 was delayed "due to temporary cash flow mismatch", company said last week, without disclosing size of missed payment.In a presentation slide from meeting with lenders on Tuesday seen by Reuters, Jet proposed a "resolution plan" that would involve making payments on loans originally due in December, January and February in several tranches between March 31 and September 30."The management is taking every effort to ensure that arrears accumulated until now do not grow," slide said.
"Jet Airways shall be current on its payments for services beyond 01-Apr-2019."