The CEO of Jet Airways, Sanjiv Kapoor, tweeted that a report claiming that senior management and 60% of existing staff had been placed on unpaid leave for three months was "100% incorrect information."
Kapoor clarified the situation by stating that no staff are being dismissed in a subsequent tweet.
“To set the record straight (as many numbers and %s flying about): 1. Two-thirds of staff not impacted at all; 2. Of the remaining one-third, most will be on temp pay reduction. 3. Only a small portion of the total (~10%) will be on temp LWP. 4. No staff let go,” he wrote.
Kapoor clarified, “These are all good people who have been working hard to try to do what has never been done before: revive an airline that has gone bankrupt. However, with the ownership transfer timeline slipping due to factors outside our control, some temporary hard decisions had to be taken."
“The team working to revive Jet was not responsible for Jet running out of cash and suspending operations. They are trying to revive the airline using fresh capital, to give consumers more choices, to create more jobs and bring back old jobs. They deserve our full appreciation," he wrote.
Earlier, there were rumours that the business, which has yet to resume operations under its new owner, would lower salaries for different staff members and put several workers on unpaid leave due to the uncertainty surrounding the start of its activities. The measures, which take effect on December 1, were made public hours after the winning bidder Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) warned that managing cashflows would require "tough" decisions in the near future.
According to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity, some of Jet's 230–250 employees will have their salary reduced by up to 50%, and some may be put on leave without pay until further notice beginning on December 1.
Before that, the Jalan Kalrock Consortium had stated on Friday that it had not violated any provisions of the insolvency resolution plan but may need to make challenging short-term decisions to manage cashflows.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) granted the consortium's resolution plan approval in June of last year, but the airline has not yet begun flights despite having its air operator licence revalidated by the DGCA in May of this year.
"... while we await the handover of the company as per the NCLT process, the longer-than-expected time being taken for the same may result in some difficult but necessary near-term decisions to manage our cashflows to secure the future while the airline is still not in our possession," the Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC) had said in a statement.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which ordered the consortium to pay the carrier's employees' unpaid gratuity and provident fund obligations last month, was also a factor when the statement was made.
Ankit Jalan, Board Member of the JKC, said the revived Jet Airways has deposited ₹150 crores as required under the court-approved resolution plan will also provide additional career opportunities, including the airline's former staff who currently make up more than 60 per cent of the current workforce, and for many more as the revived airline grows.
Jet Airways chief executive officer, Sanjiv Kapoor, said that all of the LOIs (Letters of Intent) needed to operate an airline are in place, including those for aircraft, engines, IT systems, ground handling services, catering, call centres, and other services.
