Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata to invest in Jet Airways? Here's what we know so far

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani might invest in cash-strapped Jet Airways. Jet Airways' founder Naresh Goyal has reportedly approached Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani and chairman emeritus of Tata Group Ratan Tata to raise capital for the airline. 

According to a Mint report, Mukesh Ambani has not responded to the Goyal's request yet. The report further claimed that Naresh Goyal is also exploring fundraising sources overseas. 

Meanwhile, Jet Airways has defaulted on payments to aircraft lessors and has been served show cause notice by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for payment delays. 

Earlier, Jet Airways has given pink slips to 20 employees, including some senior-level executives, who were working in the airline's crucial in-flight services department, to curtail costs amid the severe cash crunch, an airline source told PTI. 

The employees received their job termination notices this month, the source said. It can be noted that the airline reportedly had recently asked 15 managerial level employees from various departments including engineering, security and sales, to leave the company. The full service carrier, which is partially-owned by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, has delayed payment of salaries to its senior management, pilots and engineers due to its deteriorating financial health.

"Jet Airways has been reducing staff since it announced the second consecutive quarterly loss in August. Job cuts stopped in September for a while, but have come back again this month.The source alleged thet the airline is asking people to leave but in small batches to escape attention. "Around 20 employees from the in-flight services department including assistant managers, managers, senior manager, among others, have been sacked this month alone. And most of these people are from Mumbai," the source said.

Significantly, a decade back, Jet Airways had announced sacking of 1,900 employees, including 800 unconfirmed and under-probation employees, across all operations. This led to an uproar and chairman Goyal was not only forced to take back all the sacked employees over night, but also had to apologise. When contacted, a Jet Airways spokesperson evaded a direct response to the queries on the issue but said, "Given the challenging macroeconomic conditions, Jet Airways continues to evaluate all initiatives including payroll optimisation, to achieve greater business efficiencies." "At the same time, the organisation respects the personal decisions of a few of its executives to pursue opportunities outside the organisation," the spokesperson added.