Shock and rage

New Delhi/Mumbai/Hyderabad: Fears that India’s once-booming airline industry was fast slipping into a slump got more real as Jet Airways on Wednesday announced it was laying off 1,900 employees and rival-turned-ally Kingfisher Airlines said it would follow suit.
The news sparked angry protests from sacked employees in Mumbai and New Delhi, many of whom were told of their dismissal only after they showed up for work on Wednesday.
“This is not fair. My father had taken a loan to get me here. Who will pay it back?” screamed a sacked cabin staffer of Jet Airways as India watched stunned, weeping employees on national television.
The job cuts at Jet came two days after it entered into an “alliance” with Kingfisher Airlines to slash costs.
The total job cuts at Jet and Kingfisher could go as high as 6,000, analysts said. Jet’s headcount stood at 14,500, while that Kingfisher, including Deccan, was 9,000, according to the last update on their websites.
The impact will cascade further as each direct job in the aviation sector creates seven more jobs in other sectors. Going by that count, the dwindling fortunes at Jet and Kingfisher might put nearly 50,000 jobs at stake.
“I had not thought in the wildest of my dreams that they would suddenly take away my job one day,” said Pulkeet Arora, a resident of Delhi, who quit a call center job to join Jet Airways.”There will be no Diwali for us this year.”
15/10/08 Kamayani Singh, Lalatendu Mishra and Samiran Saha/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Jet Airways Oct 2008