The 750-strong Jet Airways pilots, represented by the Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots, plan to ask the management to do away with around 120 of the 280-odd expatriate pilots on contract with the airline before accepting a salary cut. According to them, this would save the company around Rs 140 crore annually. The pilots also plan to seek stock options in lieu of a pay cut.
The association will finalise its stand at its tomorrow's meeting in Mumbai, after which it is expected to meet the management once again.
According to association sources, while the expatriate pilots' annual salary bill comes to Rs 324 crore, it is only Rs 300 crore for 750 Indian pilots. Simply put, an expat gets three times the salary of an Indian pilot. “Worse, there has been a 30 per cent increase in the expats wage bill because of the depreciating rupee as they get paid in dollars,” said a senior member of the association.
Last Sunday, the Jet Airways management led by Chairman Naresh Goyal pushed through a proposal for salary cuts across the company which ranged from 5 per cent to 25 per cent.
It also proposed an average salary cut (including reduction in allowances and other benefits) of around 25 per cent, which was rejected by the association. The company would have saved about Rs 75 crore as a result of the reduction.
The association says that the expatriate pilots were hired when Jet was expanding internationally and needed commanders for 20 wide-bodied aircraft. However, the fleet size for wide-bodied aircraft has now been pruned to only 10 and the airline has also decided to withdraw from many international routes. As a result, there is an excess of over 120 expatriate pilots including some who were flying narrow-bodied aircraft.
Jet has already given pink slips to over 27 expat pilots flying narrow-bodied aircraft. According to the association, compared with the Indian pilots, productivity of the expats is only one-fourth. “For every 12 days of work, the foreign pilots get nine days off. But the Indian pilots do not get continuous off days,” says a senior member of the association.
Sacking of staff has been a sticky issue for Goyal, who was forced to take back 800 employees last month due to strong opposition from political parties.
