Jet Airways, the premier private airline, seems to have flown past financial turbulence. The airline has withdrawn the 10-15 per cent pay cut imposed on its employees as the passenger load factor (PLF) has improved of late.
This has resulted in a marginal recovery from the severe blow dealt to it following the September 11 terror attacks on the US.
According to senior Jet officials, the PLF, which had dipped to below 50 per cent immediately after the attacks on the US, has now clawed back to over 60 per cent due to the festival season, enabling it to withdraw the pay cut.
Saroj Datta, executive director of Jet Airways, said, "The PLF has improved slightly after Diwali. After two months, we have withdrawn the pay cut that we had imposed earlier."
Also, there has been a marginal recovery in the number of foreign tourist passengers, although it is still not comparable with last year's loads, Datta said.
Foreign tourists, who pay for their tickets in foreign currency, bring in considerable revenue for Jet Airways. The airline expects the load factors to remain relatively high till the middle of January.
Datta added that the airline is still looking very closely at all components of cost for possible reduction to make ends meet, since the airline's source of revenue had fallen. He, however, did not disclose any figures.
Datta also pointed out that the airline had not asked the government to bail it out. "We had only asked for temporary relief measures like easing the sales tax on ATF, rationalisation of landing/parking charges and a waiver on the customs duties on import of aircraft," he said.
Commenting on the airline's proposed private placement, Datta said that the placement had been put on the backburner due to the poor market conditions currently. He, however, chose not to comment on the government's decision to increased the foreign direct investment in the domestic airline industry to 49 per cent from 26 per cent earlier.
