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Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi's Department of Finance are likely to reject calls for a meeting with disgruntled bond investors in the belief that their complaints have no legal merit, sources close to the matter said. In 2015 and 2016 Etihad issued US$1.2b in bonds in a partnership with airlines it partly owned at the time, including Alitalia and Air Berlin. The bonds are now in default because the airlines, which are now insolvent, have not honoured their part of the obligations. The sources said that a group of international institutional creditors have complained to Etihad and the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance that, when the bonds were marketed, Etihad had promised to support the other airlines to make them profitable. “By definition, that means it would have supported the airlines to cover their debt obligations,” one of the sources said. <br/>

Jet Airways delayed the payment of salaries due Thursday to its senior employees, a problem that has been recurring for the last 2 months. In September, Jet announced that the airline will pay its employees salary in 2 equal instalments — 50% the 11th and the remainder the 27th of every month till November. The carrier said it is committed to overcome the exogenous circumstances plaguing the aviation sector due to the continuing rise of Brent fuel prices as well as the depreciating rupee. “While the company has been diligent in running its payroll as per schedule for all employees, it is only in the last couple of months that the schedule has been impacted due to unavoidable reasons. Despite these challenges, the company has ensured that 85% of its employees are paid salaries," said the airline. <br/>