Jet Airways shut down temporarily for want of funds
Live MintMumbai: Jet Airways Ltd flew its last flight on Wednesday night—9W 2502 from Amritsar to Mumbai—after lenders declined to hand out emergency funds, bringing the curtains down on an era in which it broke into a state monopoly sector to become India’s largest private airline at one point. “A decision like this is never easy to make, but without the interim funding, which we have been repeatedly requesting for, we are simply unable to conduct flight operations in a manner that delivers to the very reasonable expectations of our guests, employees, partners and service providers,” CEO Vinay Dube said in an email to Jet Airways employees, adding that the company was working to ensure the bid process leads to a viable solution. “All along, we have neither declined nor accepted Jet Airways’ request for interim funding,” one of the two bankers said on condition of anonymity. “As lenders, we have to see whether we will get back our money and in this case, we are not sure.” On Tuesday, Jet Airways’ board met in Mumbai, where the management led by CEO Vinay Dube suggested the airline suspend domestic operations among other options.