FILE PHOTO: Keren Rodriguez, 6, daughter of a Jet Airways employee, holds a placard as she attends a protest by Jet Airways employees demanding to “save Jet Airways” on the occasion of May Day at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, May 1, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
May 5, 2019
By Manoj Kumar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Indian government sees little hope of a bidder emerging for debt-laden Jet Airways Ltd, which halted operations last month, two senior finance ministry officials said.
Parties that had initially expressed interest in Jet, which is saddled with roughly $1.2 billion of debt, have so far failed to come forward with firm bids to bail it out, increasing odds that it could soon face bankruptcy proceedings.
“There is little scope in the revival of Jet,” said one official, adding that if a bidder emerged, the government was still willing to restore slots to the private airline that had been temporarily given to rivals.
The second official said it was only a matter of time before someone dragged the carrier to the National Company Law Tribunal – India’s bankruptcy court – for recovery of dues.
(Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed in NEW DELHI; Editing by Euan Rocha and John Stonestreet)
