Jet Airways chief to meet pilots, officials over salary cut

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal is likely to meet pilots, engineers and other officials Monday to discuss cost-cutting measures, including salary cuts up to 20 percent, an official said Sunday.

'The Jet chief will meet pilots and other airline officials tomorrow (Monday) to discuss cost-cutting measures. The decision on salary cuts will be announced after the meeting,' the official told IANS requesting anonymity.

However, A.K. Shivanandan, senior general manager of public relations of sister airlines JetLite, said he was not aware of the development.

The company's decision comes close on the heels of its chairman's remarks that Jet was already 'over-staffed and reeling under heavy losses'.

Reacting to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's request to airlines to cut fares, Goyal Saturday said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here that the aviation companies 'cannot take a hit on our bottomline by trimming airfare'.

'If we continue losing, no bank will give us money,' he added.

Last month, Jet had sacked some 850 employees following a mega alliance with another private airline major Kingfisher Airlines. But the carrier later reinstated all the sacked employees under government pressure.