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Jet pilots, engineers joining SpiceJet at 30-50% pay cut
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SME Times News Bureau | 16 Apr, 2019
Low-cost carrier and top rival SpiceJet appears to be making the most of the crisis at Jet Airways.
Spicejet is now hiring engineers and pilots at much lower pay than their current salaries at the financialy-troubled Jet. Industry
sources told IANS that pilots from Jet Airways are being asked to take
salary cuts of 25-30 per cent, while engineers have been advised to
settle at 50 per cent of their current pay package.
Not long ago, many airlines including SpiceJet were luring the same pilots and engineers with joining bonuses and better perks.
"The
prospect of closure is certainly one of the reasons for professionals
agreeing to take salary cuts. But average salaries at Jet Airways have
also been higher than the industry level," a top aviation source said.
A
senior aircraft maintenance engineer who has applied to SpiceJet and
Air India Express for a job said that he has got an offer in the range
of Rs 150,000 to 200,000 a month while his current cost to company (CTC)
at Jet Airways is nearly Rs 400,000 a month.
"The offer is much
lower. It will certainly be a forced choice. We are hoping that some
investor would take over Jet and our salaries will remain protected," he
said.
A SpiceJet executive said that the budget carrier was
offering salaries based on their own structure and not the highly
inflated one paid by Jet Airways.
A senior commander with Jet
Airways said that pilots with 4-5 years of experience are going to other
airlines as they are feeling the pinch of salary delays.
"They
have loans and other financial commitments so they are looking for
places where there is certainty of jobs and timely salary payment. Not
many senior level pilots have so far left Jet Airways. They are
reluctant to go to either SpiceJet, IndiGo or Air India Express as they
feel their seniority and salary will be impacted. They do not want to
sign 3-5 year bonds," he said.
The flying veteran noted that many
co-pilots who do not have much experience generally get about Rs 2.9
lakh salary month at Jet Airways, and they are willing to join other
airlines for even less than Rs 2 lakh a month.
Among various
domestic airlines, only Air India Express and SpiceJet operate Boeing
fleets, apart from Jet Airways. Those operating Airbus aircraft fear
huge conversion costs for both pilots and engineers and are, thus,
reluctant to hire the technical personnel from Jet.
"We will have
to train them for flying and maintenance of Airbus aircraft. In case of
pilots, it will need six months of training, while for engineers the
reskilling would take 3-4 months. This means the salary for entire
training period will be a huge cost for us," said an executive of a
private airline operating Airbus planes.
But aviation experts feel that the current situation is temporary and it will normalise once Jet gets back on its feet.
"This
is an unusual situation because Jet Airways remains almost grounded.
Normally, supply and demand have been in favour of pilots and
engineers. Now, it depends on how quickly Jet restarts again. If that
happens things will stabilise. I won't be surprised if many pilots and
engineers go back to Jet," said Rajan Mehra, a veteran aviation
professional and Chief Executive Officer Club One Air.
Saddled
with mounting debt and losses, Jet Airways is fighting for its survival.
The airline is in gradual descent and staring at closure with nearly 90
per cent of its fleet on the ground.
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