JAKARTA Indonesia threatened Monday to close low-cost carrier Adam Air after two of its largest shareholders announced plans to pull out of the beleaguered company. The airline has defaulted on debt payments to airplane leasing companies, which has forced the company to ground 12 of its 22 planes, said Adam Suherman, whose family together with Sandra Ang owns a 50 percent stake.

Transportation Minister Jusman Djamal said the airline, which already has sliced its number of routes from 52 to 12 - has three weeks to prove it is economically viable. If it cannot meet its financial obligations, he said, “its operating license will be revoked.” No specific conditions were released to the media. “We have defaulted and the investors have done nothing about it,” he told The Associated Press. “We’ll continue to operate as long as we have planes,” said Suherman. He said there were no plans to file for bankruptcy.

Global Transport Service or (GTS) and Bright Star Perkasa - which together control the other 50 percent stake in Adam Air - said Monday they decided to sell their shares back to the owner citing financial mismanagement. Adam Air’s “life expectancy is less than a month,” said GTS director Gustiono Kustianto. The airline has outstanding debt of US$14 million to aircraft leasing companies and free capital of just US$4.8 million, he said.