The indications are clear that after infusing equity of Rs 2,057 crore in India's second largest commercial airline, Jet Airways, last year, Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad is tightening its control over the Indian carrier, and scrutinising its cost structure to make it viable.
Sources in Jet said that in an audit - now a continuous process, undertaken by Etihad - the Abu Dhabi-based carrier conveyed to Jet that more than 700 of its 10,000-plus employees were surplus as per a Business Today report.
"Going by this number that has been conveyed to Jet by Etihad, the 40 employees who have been asked to leave is just the beginning, and a minuscule number," said a Jet employee who does not want to be identified.
A source at the airline indicated that the airline has not yet handed over termination notices to the 40 employees, although some media reports have said they were asked to leave. "These employees met the management, and... till date they have not been handed over the notices," the source said.
Jet Airways did not comment on specific details about the withholding of notices and the surplus number of 700. But its spokesperson said: "Jet Airways would like to categorically state that the services of no employee at Delhi have been terminated, apart from normal attrition, which is way below industry levels. In fact, the airline continues to recruit in areas like revenue management, cabin crew and pilots based on its operational requirements." He added that there has been a "realignment of the airline's cargo handling operations".
Sources at the airline said that in the wake of the Etihad partnership, Jet Airways will slowly consolidate its domestic operations, and only 30 per cent of its operations will be in the domestic market. It recently curtailed east-bound flights to Kolkata and rationalised its network in Hyderabad, and is now reassessing its Delhi operations. It has also discontinued flights on some routes served by its ATR fleet, such as Vijayawada-Tirupati, a segment that got good loads.
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