Jet Airways pilots warn of agitation over arrears

Jet Airways pilots have warned the management of protest if the carrier fails to come up with a concrete plan on paying their arrears amounting to Rs 100 crore.

The threat comes ahead of the annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday that will be attended by chairman Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airways chief executive officer James Hogan.

Jet denied having received the ultimatum with a spokesperson saying that the company follows a process of open communication with all its stakeholders and that in line with the same, the airline is in continuous dialogue with all levels of employees, including the operating crew.

However, a senior Jet pilot told MAIL TODAY that the pilots plan to meet Goyal on Monday after the AGM concludes. The airline will also announce its first quarter earnings on Monday.

Uncertainty is brewing amongst 1,100 Jet pilots as the airline has not paid them arrears since 2012 even after the carrier raked in Rs 2,058 crore through the 24-per cent stake sale to Gulf carrier Etihad last January.

The pilots complained that the management has been misleading them on payment of arrears. A senior pilot said that the employees had earlier accepted the deferred payment schedule as the company was going though financial turbulence. However, even after the Etihad deal, the management maintains that the airline is short of funds.

Jet Airways' standalone net loss was Rs 2,154 crore for fourth quarter making it the fifth quarterly loss in a row. The airline also owes over Rs 93 crore to the Airports Authority of India.

"In the past 15 months, we have had four chief executives and each one of them asked us to be patient. But now the management must give us concrete a proposal concerning arrears that run to over Rs 100 crore," a pilot said.

Jet owes around Rs 15 lakh to each commander and another Rs 7 lakh to each co-pilot. "When Etihad came on our airline Board, they had presented an extremely rosy carrier. However, we don't see that happening," a pilot pointed out.