Jet Airways to cut salaries, send many staff on leave without pay

Jet Airways, which is yet to resume operations under its new owner, will reduce salaries for various staff and send many employees on leave without pay, amid uncertainty over resumption of its operations.

The measures, which will be effective from December 1, were revealed hours after the winning bidder Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) said it might take "difficult" near-term decisions to manage cashflows.

The once-storied airline shuttered operations in April 2019 and JKC's resolution plan was approved under the insolvency process by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in June last year. However, due to various issues, the airline is yet to restart operations.

The pay cut would be up to 50 per cent and the quantum would be higher for the CEO and CFO. The temporary pay cuts and Leave Without Pay (LWP) for the affected staff would be effective from December 1, a source close to the development said.

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In a series of tweets, Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor said less than 10 per cent of the total staff would be on temporary Leave Without Pay and one-third would be on temporary pay reduction.

According to him, "two-thirds of staff (are) not impacted at all" and no staff has been asked to go.

"... with the ownership transfer timeline slipping due to factors outside our control, some temporary hard decisions had to be taken," he said, adding that the team working to revive Jet Airways was not responsible for the airline running out of cash and suspending operations.

Jet Airways has around 250 staff.

The latest development also comes against the backdrop of Kalrock Capital's promoter Florian Fritsch coming under the lens of regulatory agencies in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Austria.