Jet Airways shuts down operations: A timeline of how the 'Joy of Flying' airline's dreams soured

Beleaguered carrier Jet Airways halted all operations on Wednesday after its lenders rejected its plea for emergency funding from the airline that was once India’s largest private carrier. The airline, known for its “The Joy of Flying” tagline, has been teetering for weeks, saddled with over $1 billion in debt. Its lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), last month agreed to bail it out in a complex deal that involved the banks taking a majority stake and providing a fresh loan of $217 million, while continuing to look for a new investor. That loan never materialised, gradually crippling the 25-year old airline’s operations. Here are some major developments in Jet’s story: 2018 3 August: Jet denies media report it cannot fly beyond 60 days, dismisses rumours of stake sale 11 August: State Bank of India (SBI) chairman says Jet’s loan is on watch list . Jet says regularly paying banks. 27 August: Jet posts June-quarter loss , says will inject funds, cut costs by more than 20 billion rupees ($288 million) in two years [caption id=“attachment_4883531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] 6 September: Jet says paid salaries to 84 percent of its employees after media reports that pilots warned ‘non-cooperation’ over salary default 5 November: Media report says Indian conglomerate Tata Group aims to buy 51 percent stake in airline and merge Jet with Tata’s Vistara 5 December: Jet and UAE’s Etihad Airways have been holding rescue talks with Jet’s bankers , sources tell Reuters 2019 1 January: Jet delays payment to a consortium of Indian banks, led by SBI 11 January: Etihad not “in any position to sink new equity into Jet at this juncture”, says person familiar with Etihad’s position 17 January: SBI says Jet’s lenders considering plan to resolve debt issues 8 February: Airline grounds four aircraft after failing to make payments to lessors 14 February: Jet’s board approves rescue deal, making its lenders its largest shareholders, to fix a near 85 billion rupee funding gap 19 March: Government asks state-run banks to rescue Jet without pushing it into bankruptcy, sources say 25 March: Founder Naresh Goyal steps down as chairman, wife Anita Goyal resigns from board. Lenders to pump in 15 billion rupees in immediate funding 30 March: Jet CEO says airline will pay December salaries to employees 31 March: Jet’s pilots’ union says will give carrier’s new management two weeks to clear unpaid salaries, defers plan to take strike action 3 April: Jet forced to ground more than three-quarters of its fleet as it awaits bailout funds 11 April: Jet grounds 10 more planes, fleet size at less than 20 12 April: Aviation secretary says Jet has funds to stay afloat till 15 April, TV channel reports 15 April: Jet plans to extend suspension of international flights, does not get interim funds 16 April: Jet will be forced to shut down as soon as Wednesday if it does not get emergency funding from its lenders.