NPR

Mounting Debt Forces Hard Landing For India's Jet Airways

The country's oldest private airline once boasted the largest fleet in the subcontinent. But it lost altitude in recent years amid fierce competition from regional low-cost carriers.
Grounded planes of Jet Airways are pictured at Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai on Thursday after the airline announced it was shutting down due to financial problems.

India's oldest private airline, Jet Airways, was one of the first carriers to emerge as the country's economy opened up in the early 1990s. At one time, it boasted more commercial aircraft than any other airline on the subcontinent.

But earlier this week, that once-dazzling fleet of 120 planes was down to just seven. And

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