Caught in air pocket, Jet plans job cuts

Kolkata: Caught in a turbulence following decreased loads and plummeting yields, leading carrier Jet Airways is planning to lay off a section of the crew to reduce costs. According to unconfirmed reports, 49 employees have already been asked to quit.
On Friday, senior Jet Airways officials called 29 crew members in Kolkata to the airport to discuss a compensation package. Though they have not been handed pink slips yet, sources in the airline said the exercise was to trim flab without triggering the kind of adverse publicity that it had received when it attempted to downsize staff last October.
Of the 29 cabin crew members summoned, 16 attended the meeting on Friday. Sources said the cabin staff were told about a package comprising one month's salary, provident fund, refund of security deposit and 18 free return tickets.
Though the word lay-off was not used at the meeting, the decision was implied. The staff apprehend termination letters will be handed out at the next meeting.
An industry source said the airline has been laying off staff on a daily basis. "Since April 30, nearly 50 staff have been laid off in ones and twos. Since the termination has not happened at one go, it has not been noticeable," he said.
The last time 800 cabin crew were handed pink slips across the country, it led to a lot of hue and cry, forcing owner Naresh Goel to retract the decision. The situation has changed since with the prospect of lay-offs now an accepted reality.
16/05/09 Times of India

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Categories: Jet Airways May 2009