Explainer: Why Jet Airways is selling a majority stake for Re 1

Jet Airways has defaulted on loans that were due by December 31 and has delayed payments to staff and lessors

Debt-ravaged Jet Airways India Ltd., the country’s biggest so-called full-service airline, is selling a majority stake for Re 1-- a little more than 1 US cent. It’s part of a bailout plan by its state-owned lenders that will give the airline time to arrange fresh equity. The complicated arrangement is on track to be voted through on February 21, in what would represent the rescue of one of the country’s most visible companies at a sensitive time, with India’s general election just weeks away.

1. What is Jet Airways?
 

It’s consistently been one of India’s top three airlines in the