PRIVATE airlines cannot rely on the government to bail them out in times of financial trouble
PRIVATE airlines cannot rely on the government to bail them out in times of financial trouble. The comments by India's aviation minister Suresh Prabhu come as Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal visited top government offices seeking government intervention to save his beleaguered airline. 'It's the responsibility of every private company to manage their affairs,' Mr Prabhu said at CII's Partnership Summit when asked if the government planned to help the country's loss-making airlines, The Economic Times from Mumbai reported. Jet is the nation's second largest carrier by market share.
'Companies have boards of directors who are obliged to make sure it's run as shareholders want it to run,' the minister added.
Jet, hit by a severe cash crunch, high debt and losses, has defaulted on and delayed loan repayments, plane lease rentals and employee salaries. Last week Mr Goyal visited senior bureaucrats in the government requesting assistance and time from its lenders, mostly state-run, airport operators and government-owned oil marketing companies which sell it jet fuel.
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