Pilots haven't been paid 25 percent of September and full of October salaries
National Aviators Guild, the union of Jet Airways pilots, will meet the airline's senior management on November 20 to discuss payment of pending salaries.
Sources told Moneycontrol the pilots haven't been paid 25 percent of their September salary and that for the whole of October.
"The pilots want salary regularised as soon as possible," an executive from the industry said.
The airline had deferred salary payment to pilots after facing an acute liquidity crunch. Earlier this month, it reported a third straight quarter of losses. Jet Airways suffered a loss of Rs 1,297 crore in the second quarter, burdened by increasing crude rates, falling rupee and low fares.
The airline is also said to have waived off notice periods for pilots putting in their papers.
As a Twitter user said, this could be a Catch-22 situation for the airline if pilots refuse to fly over non-payment of salary.
Reacting to the development, the Twitter user who claims to be a pilot said:Tough situation for the pilots and the airline.
Pilots want their dues & Jet doesn’t even have money to pay for ATF & lease contracts etc.
If pilots strike, there won’t be any revenue and the situation will get worse and still not pay for the pilots. #Catch22 #YetAgain
— Skipper (@flyingmariner) November 19, 2018
On Sunday, the airline cancelled 10 flights from Mumbai, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. The airline blamed it on "operational issues."
The challenges continue in the airline even as Tata Sons confirmed late last week that it is interested in Jet Airways. "We would like to clarify that any such discussions have been preliminary and no proposal has been made," it said in a statement.
Investors, looking for more assurance, didn't take the news well. Jet Airways stock ended down 6.88 percent at Rs 323 a share on November 19.
