Jet staff see pay hikes as carrier out of turbulence

In the fourth quarter,Jet had provisioned R190 crore to clear increment arrears for the last two to three years. The increments,over the previous two-three years,will work out to between 4% and 6% per year. “We had to provision for the arrears as we hadn’t given increments for the last two to three years,” said KG Vishwanath,vice-president (investor relations). “Going forward,we will increase salaries by 4-6% at least for the next three to four years.”

Employees of the airline have for the last year and half been receiving salaries nearly 15 days late as Jet piled up losses but things could get better now. The 24% stake sale to Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways will bring in $380 million. That apart,the airline will get $220 million for a 51% stake in Jet Privilege and slots at London’s Heathrow airport. In addition,Etihad will arrange soft loans of close to $300 million at an interest cost of 3%.

Chairman Naresh Goyal has promised better profitability,saying at the recent shareholders’ meet that the alliance with Etihad will enable Jet to increase its network,reduce costs and improve profits.

The last year and half have been a particularly testing time for airline employees. The ground reality for employees in Air India and Kingfisher has been far from the perception of being a glamorous,well-paying job. While Air India employees have had to take a pay cut due to the implementation of the Dharmadhikari committee recommendations,Kingfisher’s staff has been unpaid for over eight months now.

Jet’s employees too weren’t insulated from the problems in the industry,with salaries coming in late and no increments even as living costs escalated due to inflationary pressures. For the time being,though,Jet employees can rejoice as the management rewards them for seeing through a tough phase.