Jet Airways Assures Pilots Of Paying August Salary This Month

Jet Airways (India) Ltd., which has partially paid August salaries to its pilots and engineers along with senior management, has assured the pilots of paying the balance amount by Oct. 09, an airline source said Friday.

The assurance came following a meeting between the Jet Airways management and its domestic pilots' union, National Aviator's Guild, at the airline's headquarter here.

The two sides also decided to meet again next week to discuss the salary and other issues, the source said.

“Management has committed that 25 percent balance amount of August salary will be paid on Tuesday,” the source privy to the meeting told PTI.

On Sept. 06, the airline had informed that its senior management, pilots and engineers will receive their salaries in two installments till November.

The August salary was to be paid in two instalments - half by Sept. 11 and the other half by Sept. 26. Though the airline paid the first tranche on time, it could make only partial payment of the second instalment on the designated date and deferred the rest of the payment to Oct. 09.

At the meeting, Jet Airways' Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube, Chief People Officer Rahul Taneja, Executive Vice-President for flight operations Nikhil Vaid, Vice-President for flight operations Floyd Gracious and Senior Commander Raj Kalra represented the management, the source said.

The Guild was represented by its president Karan Chopra, general secretary for Delhi Tej Sood, joint general secretary for Delhi Rajnesh Gehani and a member from Mumbai base Sam Veghese.

The source also said that the next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 09, adding, “No other issues were discussed today due to a paucity of time.”

The Naresh Goyal-controlled airline, in which Etihad Airways holds 24 percent stake, has been going through financial turbulence for quite some time now, with two back-to-back quarterly losses driven by skyrocketing jet fuel price, nosediving rupee and inability to raise fares amid cut-throat competition, particularly in the domestic market.

The airline is also struggling to raise the required capital to meet its various payment obligations, including salaries to over 16,000 employees.

The airline Thursday received about Rs 258 crore funding from investment partner Etihad by the sale of advance tickets to its loyalty programme Jet Privilege.

“Etihad Airways confirms it proposed a financial restructuring and support plan for Jet Airways that was approved by its majority shareholder. This plan includes a $35 million cash pre-purchase payment to Jet Airways by Jet Privilege, which is majority-owned by Etihad Airways,” the Gulf carrier said in a statement to PTI Friday.

JetPrivilege is 50.1 per cent owned by Etihad Airways, while the rest 49.9 per cent is with Jet Airways.