Jet cabin crew get used to falling axe,take things in their stride

When 50 cabin crew staff of Jet Airways received their termination letters recently,the reaction of the carriers other staff members was not as agitated as it had been when the airline had sacked 850 cabin crew staff in October last year.

When 50 cabin crew staff of Jet Airways received their termination letters recently,the reaction of the carriers other staff members was not as agitated as it had been when the airline had sacked 850 cabin crew staff in October last year. In fact,most of the airhostesses and flight stewards,who spoke to Newsline on condition of anonymity,said that they have given up and most of them are patiently waiting for their turn to face the axe.

This subtle reaction comes across as an extreme opposite of what the nation saw for two full days on television in October last year,when these smartly-dressed professionals in their yellow coats took to the streets after the Naresh Goyal-promoted airline terminated contracts of over 850 cabin crew staff as a cost cutting measure.

You have to do it, was the underlying message circulated among everybody,said a Jet airhostess. I have stopped taking any more stress as I know this time it will happen and nothing can stop it. After all,we cannot be screaming around for help all the time, she added. The company is in an extremely bad shape and they have made it aptly clear that they want us to leave,so why stay? After all,even we have some self-respect, said another airhostess,who has already started looking for another job. Were young and therefore it should not be very difficult for us to get another job,even if its outside the aviation industry, she added.

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This time were not going to react like the previous time for this time it is us who wanted to resign because of the strict working conditions that have been imposed upon us. But we were hanging on with the carrier because of the ongoing recession, said another airhostess.

What was perhaps the clearest indication about the impending job cuts with the carrier was the fact that for the month of May,the airline had only prepared flight rosters till the 15th of this month. Usually the roster for the entire month is given out but this time we got the roster only till the 15th of this month, said a flight steward. Most of the respondents who spoke had participated in the October protests last year.

The countrys largest domestic carrier issued a total of 229 pink slips to 50 of its cabin crew members and 119 overseas staffers. Also,it did not renew 60 more contracts of those who had already superannuated but were working with the airline. Speculations are also rife that more job cuts are expected in the near future.

To streamline costs to improve the financial health of the company under the current challenging global economic environment,the airline has issued notices of termination to identified employees on contract who have superannuated and some cabin crew members on probation in accordance with the terms and conditions of their contracts and in compliance with the law, the airline had said in a statement on Friday.

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Jet cabin crew get used to falling axe,take things in their stride

When 50 cabin crew staff of Jet Airways received their termination letters recently,the reaction of the carriers other staff members was not as agitated as it had been when the airline had sacked 850 cabin crew staff in October last year.

When 50 cabin crew staff of Jet Airways received their termination letters recently,the reaction of the carriers other staff members was not as agitated as it had been when the airline had sacked 850 cabin crew staff in October last year.