Mumbai: All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), the oldest and largest bank union, has written to the bankers' body—Indian Banks Association (IBA)— asking it to extend a special and exclusive loan to the grounded Jet Airways for the payment of salary dues of the staff against a proper collateral.
"We feel that the Banks should come forward to extend special and exclusive loan to the company for payment of the salary dues of the staff or some subsistence payments to them against proper collateral of lien on the accumulation in the staff Fund like PF and Gratuity. Alternatively, IBA can ask the Banks to device a special loan scheme to the staff of Jet Airways to tide over their present financial problems," CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA said, in a letter to Indian Banks' Association Chairman Sunil Mehta.
The Union in its letter suggested that if viable and acceptable proposals do not come at the earliest to take over the beleaguered Jet then banks should recommend to the government to either take over the airline or merge it with Air India.
"We are happy to observe that the banks are not showing any hurry to further lend to Jet Airways, rather, bidders are being invited to take over the airline. When our Banks already have an exposure of Rs 7,200 crore to Jet Airways and when the promoter Naresh Goyal is unable to bring in further capital, and when the airline is already cash-starved, it is most prudent that the banks are not willing to lend any further to them unless and until viable proposals come to take over and run the airline on proper lines," the Union Chief said.
He emphasised that the banks should dispel the wrong impression that when a corporate borrower defaults repayment of the loan or mismanages the affairs of the company, it is the job of the banks to rescue them.
National Aviators Guild (NAG), which is the pilots' union of Jet Airways, has said that a sum of Rs 175 crore is needed to pay employee salaries. The NAG, however, has not volunteered to take any pay cuts.
