The strange case of the jet airways bankruptcy: A financial structure analysis

The global aviation industry has changed very rapidly in recent years, mostly due to the evolution of both technology and commercial models. These changes have also impacted the sector in India, forcing Indian airline companies to face new and unpredictable challenges, not always successfully. The bankruptcy of Jet Airways is a relevant but still “unsolved” example in this respect. We investigate the financial structure of the corporation, with the aim of understanding whether financial turbu-lence for an airline company can constitute an antecedent for predicting the risk of bankruptcy. A combined evaluation using the Altman Z-score, Piotroski F-score and Beneish M-score highlights that financial instability worksas a bankruptcy predictor (through Z-and F-scores) in the case under analysis, at the same time excluding (through the M-score) potential earnings manipulation as financial malpractice.