Jet slashes pay, perks for seniors

Jet Airways is slashing salaries of its senior staff by up to 25 per cent.

An official statement said all those earning more than Rs 75,000 a month would face pay cuts. Some perquisites will also be discontinued for senior management. It said the cuts were for the time being only and take effect from next month. Top management, it appears, will face a 25 per cent pay cut. Those drawing a monthly salary of Rs 5 lakh and above would take a 20 per cent cut, said a company source.

“Jet always undertakes a cost restructuring exercise to meet the challenges of the global downturn in the economy and in aviation in particular,” was the company’s explanation.

Jet had already started restructuring its operations by planning to send some narrow-bodied aircraft back to the lessors, after leasing around 10 of its widebodied aircraft to Gulf Air, Oman Air and Turkish Airlines. The airline is known to have been advised by investors to cut its capacity by around 20 per cent.

Jet Airways has also shifted several offices in cities like Jalandhar to the airports in those towns to save on rental costs. The airline’s domestic passenger numbers slumped 26 per cent in the three months through March as a slowing economy hurt business and leisure trips.