A crisis at India’s Jet Airways deepened on Tuesday as an increasingly worried government called for an emergency meeting, angry passengers demanded refunds and pilots threatened to go on strike over unpaid salaries.
The Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu, asked his officials to call for a meeting to discuss grounding of flights, advance bookings, cancellations, refunds, and any potential safety issues, at the cash-strapped carrier.
Saddled with debt of more than $1 billion, Jet is struggling to stay aloft. It has delayed payments to banks, suppliers, pilots and lessors – some of whom have started cancelling their lease deals with the airlines.
