Jet Board Meets In Mumbai Amid Reports Of Naresh Goyal's Exit Today, Shares Rise

Jet Airways shares surged on Monday after a report suggested that chairman Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal may step down from the board of directors of the cash-strapped airline. Shares of Jet Airways rose as much as 3.87 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 234.80 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On the BSE, Jet Airways shares climbed as much as 4.23 per cent to Rs 235.40, outperforming the NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex indexes which were trading around 1 per cent lower each. (Also Read: Jet Airways needs infusion of around Rs 10,000 crore, says report)

Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal are expected to leave the board of the cash strapped airline they founded 25 years ago, ET Now television channel reported citing sources. Chief executive Vinay Dube is expected to stay on board of the airline, the report added.

"Jet Airways which has between 30 to 35 planes flying out of its total fleet of 119 aircraft is holding a crucial board meeting. Speculation is that Jet promoter and founder Naresh Goyal may be shown the door as the airline works on a revival plan," sources told NDTV.

With several aircraft grounded and pilots being poached by low cost carriers like SpiceJet and Indigo, Jet's troubles are far from over. Even if it gets bailout money from lenders, Jet will still take time to put planes back in the air even though it has requested lessors not to de-register grounded aircraft, the sources added.

When contacted, Jet Airways refused to comment on the report.

Jet's lenders consortium may invoke the entire 51 per cent stake of Naresh Goyal in the airline, and start looking for a new buyer in the weeks to come, the report said.

Saddled with more than $1 billion of debt, Jet is struggling to stay afloat. It has delayed payments to banks, suppliers, pilots and lessors. Aviation regulator DGCA or Directorate General of Civil Aviation has said that only 41 Jet Airways aircraft are currently available for operation.

Last week, Jet Airways' pilots threatened to stop flying from April 1 if the cash-strapped airline did not come up with a rescue plan in place by March 31, a trade union body said.

Jet Airways shares were witnessing heavy trading volumes on the BSE. By 12:28 pm, 9.49 lakh shares had changed hands so far in Monday's session, compared with an average of 9.40 lakh shares traded daily in the past two weeks.

(With inputs from Reuters)