Jet Airways? plan to merge its low-cost brand JetLite with itself seems to be facing turbulence. The new JetLite pilots union, JetLite Welfare Association (JLWA), has threatened mass resignations and strikes from this week because the Jet management is now invoking a bond in the contract of some pilots to force them to join the airline under ?unacceptable? terms.
The development comes even as Jet faces major flight delays, especially for flights out of Mumbai, due to acute pilot shortage and inability to absorb JetLite pilots under favourable terms. The situation could get worse for the Mumbai-based full-service carrier if the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) decides to act on a previous suspension notice served to 129 of its pilots for flying without mandatory certification ? a decision is likely this week.
?In the last few weeks, we met senior members of the Jet management, including CEO Cramer Ball and group executive officer Hameed Ali. They said they are sympathetic towards our problems and will give us a better offer for joining Jet. However, they are going ahead with forceful transfers to Jet. For some junior pilots, there is a bond of R12 lakh in the contract, and this is being used to force them to join Jet,? a JLWA office bearer said. Jet Airways did not reply to an emailed questionnaire till the time of going to press.
Jet is believed to have invoked the bond for six JetLite pilots, of which one has already agreed to join Jet. The rest met the management on Monday, after which three were let go but two are still being forced to join the parent airline. ?We will now go for mass resignations, fly with black bands and also prepare to go on strike from the end of this week as no solution is emanating. We have written consent from over 120 pilots,? another JetLite pilots said.
The dispute between JetLite pilots and Jet management is yet to be solved even after two months of talks as the latter is facing pressure from its own pilots to not let JetLite pilots join at senior ranks. Losing seniority and being forced to shift to different locations is, however, unacceptable to most of JetLite’s 189 pilots. Jet Airways hopes to merge both brands into a single full-service carrier by December and turn its domestic operations profitable by FY17.
Incidentally, JetLite pilots have got an in-principle approval from DGCA to reduce the mandatory six-month notice period for resignations to one. This will help them move to rival carriers like IndiGo and Vistara at the earliest, as reported by FE. According to industry sources, the regulator has said it would be done only on a case-to-case basis and primarily because Jet owes large wage arrears to JetLite pilots ? about R15 lakh for senior commanders and R7-8 lakh for first officers.
Jet Airways, which had a domestic market share of 16.7% in September (4.1% for JetLite), reported record losses of over R4,000 crore in FY14. The Jet Airways scrip at BSE closed 0.21% down to R233.45 on Monday.
