Jet Air management to take salary cuts

Jet Airways, India's second largest private carrier by market share, today said that it had cut the salaries of over 370 management-level employees as the airline was bleeding on account of falling traffic and rising operational costs.

"We have temporarily imposed a reduction in salaries for the management cadre. The airline will discontinue some senior management perks and undertake a graded temporary salary reduction for its management cadre to be effective from May 2009," the Mumbai-based full-service carrier said.

"This temporary salary reduction will only apply for employees earning a gross salary of Rs75,000 per month and above," the airline said. The salary cut, of up to 25 per cent, is part of a cost-restructuring exercise by the airline.

Last October, Jet Airways had announced the retrenchment of about 1,900 employees after a strategic alliance with Kingfisher. It, however, took back the employees following widespread protests.

Earlier, there were also unconfirmed reports that Jet Airways is planning to cut its fleet by nearly a fifth, as the Naresh Goyal-controlled company looks to further slash costs. The airline currently has 87 aircraft operating on the domestic and international sectors. It is planning to lease out around 15 from this fleet, said a company official familiar with the matter.