The civil aviation ministry seems to be in no mood to provide any helping hand to cash-strapped Jet Airways (India) Ltd as top officials of the government said that issues of a private airline have to be dealt by the concerned stakeholders.

"For a private airline, it is for their board of directors and management that the airline is functioning properly and they have to take appropriate measures from time to time depending upon market conditions," minister for civil aviation Suresh Prabhu said on the sidelines of an event in the national capital.

Prabhu said that the ministry is always ready to take up sector-specific concerns such as those related to Aviation turbine fuel and Goods and Services tax, with various ministries but the issue at the hand has to be handled by the airline's management.

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The statement from the aviation ministry comes amid media reports saying that the government is nudging for a Tata Motors-Jet Airways deal. Tata Motors had confirmed its interest in the Naresh Goyal-led airline last week when it said in a statement that it has initiated preliminary talks for a stake buy in the airline.

Aviation secretary RN Choubey said that while the airline has not approached the ministry for any stake sale to Tata Sons, it has sought some extension for payment of dues to airport operators but Choubey reiterated that government will not interfere in the matters of a private airline.

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"They have been saying that they need some more lead time with regard to payments to airport operators so that is something they have to deal with them. The ministry does not get into that. We don't get into commercial discussion between the airlines and airport operators. It is to be done commercially between the two entities," Choubey added.

In the light of the recent incidents putting passenger safety in danger across airlines, Prabhu said that he has asked Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct a strict safety audit of all airlines, including Jet Airways, as the ministry will have zero tolerance towards such incidents endangering passenger safety.

In the last two months, there have been a series of such incidents with one involving Jaipur-bound Jet Airways flight, where pilots forgot to maintain cabin pressure, causing severe headache and nose bleeds to around 30 passengers. Another major incident was when a Dubai-bound Air India flight flew with a torn underbelly for nearly four hours with pilots being unaware for the most part of the time period.

First Published:Nov 19, 2018 11:09 PM IST