Airline does not expect any resistance to the move, as lay offs are an accepted norm overseas

PAY CUT: Around 2,000 Jet employees, comprising pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers abroad, will face a pay cut of about Rs 10,000 a month. FILE PIC

After proposing a five to 25 per cent pay cut to its employees, Jet Airways is set to lay off over 100 of its staff abroad to tide over the current financial crisis. And unlike the protests that greeted layoffs in October, Jet does not foresee any trouble, as lay offs are an accepted norm abroad.

"Lays offs are easier to initiate abroad, as they are considered routine in the US or Europe," a senior airline official handling foreign airports told MiD DAY.

With flight routes like Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco, Bengaluru-Brussels and Amritsar-London being curtailed or discontinued, the official said there was no reason to have staff posted there. Calls and SMSes to top Jet officials went unanswered. 

Jet Airways has 25 officials who comprise the top management. A dozen of the top levels, including the CEO Wolfgang Prockshaw are foreigners. Some of them are also posted in the US.

Of its 13,200 employees, around 2,000, mainly comprising pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers, earn over Rs 1 lakh a month. They stand to lose about Rs 10,000 a month. Sources said that Jet's vice-presidents would have to forego about Rs 1.40 lakh of their total salary of about Rs 7 lakh, a month. 

Fewer flying hrs

Jet is also planning to revise the salary structure of its reinstated cabin crew. The current pay cut will not affect the cabin crew because they don't earn over Rs 75,000 a month. "We intend to convert a major part of their salary to the variable component," a human resources (HR) official of Jet Airways said.

"I have been earning less because I fly less and thus loose out on flying allowance," explained Kim D'Souza, a reinstated Jet crew. Like her colleagues, D'Souza too has been affected by a 30 per cent reduction in flight capacity and hence does not fly for five days a week.

HR View
Both understaffing and overstaffing are the result of HR and business strategies. It could be related to expansion plans or economic slowdown. There is no point blaming anyone. One should just keep the old adage 'Make hay while the sun shines' in mind.
HR observer, Faisal Khan

Psychiatrist view
It is a relief that the pilots and other staff members are not getting the pink slip.   What is frightening them is their  inability to control the current situation.
Kersi Chawda, consultant, Hinduja  Hospital, and vice-president, Bombay  Psychiatry Society 

Jet ka jhatka
Who lost how much in salary cuts at Jet Airways abroad

Who?                                                            Approximate salary per month                      Salary cut

25 senior management staff      Rs 7 lakh plus per person                             25 per cent

500 staff                                                   Rs 5 lakh  per person                                     20 per cent

1,000 pilots                                            Rs 5 lakh  per person                                      10-20 per cent

Note: 240 of Jet's 1,000 pilots are expatriates, who are, as a general rule, paid salaries that are 40 per cent higher than their Indian counterparts