Thursday, October 16, 2008

AI may lay off 15,000; Jet blasted

Never before has India's aviation industry seen such turbulent times. Lack of passenger demand, high aviation turbine fuel costs, rising airport and other charges, possible consolidation, huge losses, and now employee sackings.

Meanwhile the industry grapples with the challenges at hand and wants the government to bail it out with a package of about Rs 4,700 crore (Rs 47 billion). However, what most people are asking is why should private companies be bailed out by the government, especially when they are firing their staff.

Patel 'sorry' for sacked Jet staff

Sympathising with the sacked Jet Airways employees, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Thursday said he would hold talks with all airlines to find a way out of the downturn in the industry caused by high fuel costs and economic slowdown.

"I sympathize with those young boys and girls who lost their jobs. I will talk to all airlines to see that such large scale loss of jobs does not happen and try to find a way out," he said in Hyderabad.

"At a personal level and also at the government level, I will tell the airline to accommodate as many people as possible," he said in a reply to question of Jet decision to sack 1,900 employees on Wednesday.

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