Cash-strapped Jet Airways offers its Boeing 737 pilots leave without pay

The operations department has also proposed changes to the crew duty pattern

Jet Airways is offering its Boeing 737 pilots leave without pay following the grounding of over half its fleet.

The operating fleet is down to 30-35 from more than 100 since last October, resulting in massive flight cancellations and stand-by duties for its pilots. Of 1,400 pilots the airline has, 200 have quit in the past few months because of salary delays. The number of pilots flying the Boeing 737 planes is around 1,000. 

In a staff communication, Captain Amish Ved, chief pilot on the 737 fleet, said the company had received requests for extended time-off due to changes in operational requirement,