All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has opposed any move by the banking sector to bail out the ailing Jet Airways stating that banks should do banking business, not run airlines.
“When Jet Airways was making profits, the profits went to the pocket of the owners. When it is in loss, why should public and banks’ money be spent to save them,” asked C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA.
“It is the business of the company and its management to run an airline and not that of the bank. Banks should do banking business, not run airlines,” he said.
Answering a query on the debt-ridden carrier, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar had reportedly said “it is in everybody’s interest that Jet Airlines continues to fly... Our aim is that the corporate debtor (Jet Airways) should not be harmed.
“Whatever loan they (Jet Airways) had taken from the banks should be repaid. It should not be dumped on the shoulders of the banks,” Mr. Venkatachalam noted.
“Even Etihad Airlines wants its shares to be purchased by our banks. We totally disagree with such proposals and attempts of banks to purchase the shares of this ailing airline with a view to saving the company at the cost of public money,” he said.
He also said that private airlines were allowed only on the premise that they would be much more efficient than public sector airlines. “This virtually weakened State-owned Air India,” he said.
