Deccan 360 lays off employees

Bangalore: Deccan 360, the logistics venture launched by India's budget airline pioneer Captain GR Gopinath, is set to lay-off employees. The venture has been hit by lack of critical infrastructure in the country that cancelled out the advantages of air cargo shipping.

Reports suggest that the company has emailed 600-odd staff asking them to look for alternative employment. In the email the company's HR department cited lack of funds as the reason for this restructuring.

The email says that though the company tried its best to manage with minimal operations, the business could not succeed ''due to business and funding constraints''.

In April last year Capt Gopinath raised Rs110 crore from Reliance. According to a May article published by Forbes Magazine , Deccan 360 had revenues of Rs43 crore during year ending July 2010 and losses of nearly Rs200 crore.

The communique to employees also says that the company is currently working on a deferred salary plan for remaining employees.

"As part of this process, we are requesting some of the employees to look for alternative jobs though we would love to get them back in future. Also if someone wishes to go on "long leave without pay," and as and when the company revamps they can join back."

Apparently, the company has already returned three A310 aircraft which it had leased for a period of three years.