In a bid to resolve various issues between Jet Airways, Etihad Airways and lenders, State Bank of India has called for an urgent meeting on Wednesday.
A source said Naresh Goyal, Chairman and promoter of Jet Airways, along with representatives of Etihad, has flown down to India for the meeting. Another source said the meeting will be held at SBI’s corporate office here. Etihad CEO Tony Douglas is also likely to attend it, said reports.
SBI is the lead lender of a consortium that has extended loans to Jet Airways.
“Jet Airways has been having meetings regularly with SBI, but this one is fairly important given that Goyal, along with representatives from Etihad and lenders, are all going to be present to discuss the issues face-to-face,” said a company source.
Jet Airways has been facing a financial crunch for the past several months, owing to which it has delayed salaries to pilots, senior staff and engineers, and payments to its lessors and lenders.
Pilots’ protest
These delays led to lessors grounding a couple of the company’s aircraft till the time payments weren’t cleared. If that was not enough, pilots have now decided to agitate with a black-band protest.
The airline has been making constant efforts to restructure itself, and proposed a restructuring plan to its shareholders and other stakeholders.
Last week, it called for an EGM to propose the same to its shareholders. About 98 per cent of the shareholders approved the proposals under all five categories.
Currently, Goyal owns a 51 per cent stake while Etihad owns 24 per cent. The rest of the shares are owned by public institutions and other shareholders.
According to sources, Etihad was not convinced with the plans and thus had abstained from voting. BusinessLine had earlier reported the Gulf-based carrier was not present at the EGM as well and that its absence had led to mayhem among minority shareholders.
The airline has loans of over ₹8,400 crore, with SBI being its biggest lender. SBI’s exposure is said to be close to ₹2,000 crore.
Jet and Etihad had said in a joint statement yesterday they, along with key financial stakeholders, are working towards finalisation of a bank-led provisional resolution plan for the debt-laden domestic airline.
Jet Airways’ stock on Tuesday fell 2.14 per cent to close at ₹224.25.