The Air India board met lenders on Friday and discussed a financial restructuring plan as part of a turnaround strategy to salvage the ailing national carrier. After the meeting, an Air India official said banks were preparing to help the airline service its huge debt of about 400 billion rupees ($9.07 billion). In March, Air India had accepted a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package prepared by SBI Caps and vetted by global consultancy firm Deloitte. The package was cleared after several rounds of consultations with banks and the government.

The debt recast by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. is expected to help attract investors to the airline’s intended $250 million global depository receipt issue, though the company will have to wait for better market conditions for the GDR issue, say analysts. A consortium of 13 lenders to Kingfisher has taken a 23.37% stake in India’s second-biggest airline by market share after the airline restructured part of its 76.51 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) debt, the company said in a filing to the country’s stock exchange on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI — Air Works India has landed the contract to maintain the Indian air force’s VVIP squadron of three Boeing Business Jets. Operated by the Indian air force’s communications squadron, the aircraft carry the president, vice president, prime minister and other top-level officials. The maintenance contract for the Indian version of Air Force One will be a big boost for the company, which launched independent MRO services in the civil aviation sector in 2008.