BackGovt rules out bail-out measure for SpiceJet
Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju says the govt can afford to take on such loans onto itself
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New Delhi: The government on Saturday ruled out any bail-out measure to cash-strapped budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd. Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju also justified the actions taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) against the airline, including withdrawal of its unused slots for flight operations.
“I don’t think the government can afford to take on such loans onto itself," Raju told CNN-IBN responding to a question whether the government will extend any guarantee as far as the beleaguered airline’s debts are concerned.
The minister, however, expressed the hope that SpiceJet will come out of the current financial crisis. “We hope they (SpiceJet) will be able to fly out of the financial turbulence which they are going through," he said.
Raju also said DGCA has done its job by withdrawing the airlines’ unused slots and passing other directions to SpiceJet.
Concerned over the deteriorating financial health of SpiceJet and large-scale flight cancellations, DGCA had on Friday withdrawn nearly 180 of its slots and asked it to clear salary dues of all its employees by 15 December. The airline had, however, in a statement on Friday, said surrendering the unused slots to an airport operators was a routine practice and it had already paid November salaries to almost 85% of the employees two days ago. PTI
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