War in government over airline layoffs

Friday, October 17, 2008 at 3:10 am under India News War in government over airline layoffs

Facing the heat of the financial crisis that has hit the aviation sector, state-owned Air India on Thursday (October 16) said that it is considering a plan to give 3-5 years leave without pay to about 15,000 of its staff. “We are planning to offer leave without pay for three to five years. We can consider it for about 15,000 employees,” Air India CMD Raghu Menon said.

He, however, said those who take up the offer to go on leave would be taken back if they desire so at the same seniority and last drawn pay. Menon’s statement comes at a time when the country’s leading private carrier Jet Airways has laid off 1,900 jobs as the financial crunch in the aviation sector worsens.

The government on Wednesday (October 15) had, however, ruled out any job cuts in Air India with the civil aviation minister Praful Patel assuring employees that there were no plans to prune staff strength immediately.

“No. Air India is not going to have any job cuts. Certainly it (the aviation crisis) will affect the growth plans, it will affect the future employment opportunities which would have come the way of Air India in case the aviation industry was in a much better financial health,” Patel said.

“But as of now I do not have the luxury to say beyond the fact that those who are working for the Air India shall continue to do so and we shall not have any issue of people being laid off,” he said. The 77-year-old state carrier, which initiated a fleet renewal programme three years ago and merged with its sister airline Indian last year, has proposed infusion of Rs 1,000-1,500 crore of equity capital. It is also looking at soft loans of Rs 1,000 crore from government that can be repaid over a period of time.

According to industry experts the coming together of Jet and Kingfisher could further mount the problems for Air India. Menon, however, disagreed with the views and said it would only lead to a reduction in competition. “There are a number of routes and there are a number of airlines. All the airlines will be evenly poised in the market,” he said.

Meanwhile, employees of Jet Airways, who were retrenched by the airline, protested their sacking by the company at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) in Mumbai.

The employees gathered at Terminal-1B and chanted slogans against the airlines’ chief Naresh Goyal and Vijay Mallya, the chairman of Kingfisher Airlines. They also vented their ire against the government for not taking any action against the Jet Airways for sacking nearly 1,900 of its employees, mostly probationers and trainees.

The agitating employees also thanked political outfits like Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for taking up the retrenchment issue in Mumbai. The protest led to disruption of work at Jet Airways counter at the domestic airport.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways’ decision to sack 1,900 employees in the midst of the festival season drew flak from Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes.

“I appeal to (Jet Chairman Naresh) Goyal not to retrench people and try to find some solution. We have supported Goyal several times (but) this is not the right time to retrench people, particularly before Diwali,” Deora said to reporters in New Delhi. Deora said that he would “appeal to (Jet chief Naresh) Goyal to please not resort to such extreme steps.”

Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said that his ministry was looking into the issue of mass retrenchment of Jet Airways’ cabin crew. The minister who returned after attending a labour conference in Bali told reporters here that the issue is already under the scanner of labour ministry and its details are being collected by the ministry.

“The issue has been brought to my notice. There is a problem in the aviation industry, specifically Jet Airways, and we are enquiring into the matter,” Fernandes said. The Chief Labour Commissioner’s office is learnt to have sought contract details of the 1900 employees who have been terminally sacked by Jet Airways to ensure savings of $1 million per month.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Written by: Sajid Manzoor

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