Once India second biggest airline by market share, now on the verge of collapse, Jet Airways trouble is getting denser day by day. In a plea trade union National Aviator's Guild, which has more than 1,100 pilots of the airline as its members, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help in saving 20,000 jobs at stake on Monday.
The union also requested the State Bank of India to release funds of Rs 1500 crore as a crisis management. The SBI-led group of lenders had last month took over the airline and decided to provide an instant financial support support of Rs. 1,500 crore.
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The Prime Minister's Office had last Friday summoned a crisis meeting. While the SBI-led conglomerate is trying to find a buyer for Jet Airways.
On the other hand, grabbing the crisis as an opportunity SpiceJet is hiring engineers and pilots at much lower pay than their current salaries at the cash-strapped Jet Airways. Pilots from Jet Airways are being asked to take salary cuts of 25-30 per cent while engineers have been advised to settle at 50 per cent of their current pay package.
There are only seven planes left in the shed of Jet Airways when the creditors confiscated the remaining flights. SBI is likely to decide by Monday that whether it will release funds to keep the jet flying or not.