Civil aviation sector begins to feel the pinch

New Delhi: Civil aviation and tourism sectors in the country are beginning to feel the heat of the economic slowdown in the area of new jobs.
The civil aviation sector, in fact, was on the path of high growth for a while. But the high jet fuel prices, high operational costs, over capacity and lower volumes of passengers have now begun to tell on the airlines.
Private carrier Jet Airways last month announced 1900 job cuts of cabin crew and other staff. Peeved by the sudden move, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel made his displeasure known. The UPA government too did not want a controversy at a time when elections were round the corner. Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal had to reinstate all those whose services were terminated.
The government came out with the assurance that there would not be any lay offs in the sector.
The civil aviation sector, which ran up losses to the tune of Rs. 4000 crores last year, appears set to see the figure mount to nearly Rs. 9000 crores this year, industry sources say.
Jet’s no-frills arm, JetLite, had earlier done away with the services of nearly 200 to 300 employees.
Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher had also sacked 300 employees. Jet acquired Air Sahara and Kingfisher bagged Air Deccan. Both the carriers are still finding it difficult to achieve a smooth and complete synergy in their operations in the post-acquisition period.
On the other hand, public sector Air India is in the process of filling up as many as 68 vacancies at the level of general managers in several areas of its operations like engineering, commercial, finance and personnel, informed sources said.
07/11/08 Vinay Kumar/The Hindu

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2008