Jet Airways pilots body defers 'no flying' call ahead of lenders meet

Cash-strapped Jet Airways Sunday averted a deeper crisis after its pilots body, the National Aviatior's Guild, deferred its "no flying" call to a later date from Monday, when the management is scheduled to meet the lenders.

Earlier in the day, the guild, which has around 1,100 pilots as its members, decided to stop flying from April 15 in protest against non-payment of salaries since March.

However, in a late evening communication to its members, the pilots body announced postponement of its "no pay no work" call for the second time in less than two weeks, saying it wanted to give more time to the company which is struggling to survive due to severe paucity of cash.

"It has come to our notice that there is a critical meeting planned tomorrow (Monday) morning with the airline management and SBI. In light of the meeting, the members have requested, through their team leaders, that the call of 'no pay no work' be deferred to give the airline a chance of survival," the Guild said in the communication.

"Accordingly, as requested, the NAG Committee would like to inform all that the decision stands deferred for the time being," it said.

Meanwhile, the airline extended suspension of its services to Toronto and Paris from Chennai and back, besides withdrawing services from SAARC and Asean routes for an indefinite period. It also announced the resignation of one of its independent directors, Rajshree Pathy, from the company for other commitments.

In an exchange filing, the Jet Airways said, "This is to inform you that Rajshree Pathy has submitted her resignation as an Independent Director of the company with effect from April 13, owing to time constraints and on account of her other current commitments."