Jet Airways' two largest shareholders, chairman Naresh Goyal and Etihad Aviation Group, have backed the bank-led bailout plan for the struggling Indian airline.
In a joint statement, Goyal and Etihad chief executive Tony Douglas, say that a number of stakeholders are working towards "the finalisation and subsequent implementation of the bank-led provisional resolution plan (BLPRP) to ensure that the carrier emerges as a financially strong and resilient airline."
Their comments follow the approval by shareholders to approve a plan to a group of Jet's lenders to swap their debt for Rs1.14 billion ($16 million) in equity at a 21 February extraordinary general meeting, which they describe "as an important step in this direction."
The debt-for-equity swap is part of the bailout plan driven by a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India that was approved by Jet's board one week prior.
It is still unclear when the debt-for-equity swap will take place, nor the affect that it will have on Goyal's 51% stake and Etihad's 24%.
Jet has previously said that it has a Rs85 billion funding gap that will be covered through proceeds from aircraft sales, new loans and additional equity, but has not provided any further detail on what mix of funding will be used to plug that gap.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
