‘Must serve for 5-7 years or risk surety’

Jet Airways has asked junior pilots to furnish surety bonds worth up to ₹1 crore and serve the airline for at least five to seven years, union sources said.

The development comes at a time when many of its junior pilots have been asked to take 10 days off every month, a move that would result in up to 30% pay cut, as part of cost saving measures.

Sources at the National Aviators Guild (NAG), the pilots’ union of Jet Airways, said the bond requirement had been communicated to the junior pilots.

These pilots had been asked to furnish surety bonds worth ₹1 crore and the development also comes as the airline has “unilaterally” decided on salary cuts for them, sources told PTI.

‘Just a pattern’

“No new bonds (have been) asked for,” a Jet Airways spokesperson said. “It is just a pattern that has been introduced.” He was responding to a query whether the airline had asked its trainee pilots to sign a bond amount of up to ₹1 crore.

The spokesperson was also asked if the junior pilots have to serve the airline for 5-7 years and face encashment of the bond in case of failure to serve that tenure.

Sources at NAG said it plans to meet the airline management this week to discuss the pay cut proposal as it has been done in a unilateral manner. Jet Airways has more than 200 junior pilots, including those undergoing training.

“As an interim measure, we shall be offering you a Lifestyle Work Pattern which entails 10 days block off per month with the appropriate remuneration... This will be effective from August 1, 2017,” the carrier said in a letter to many junior pilots last week.

The NAG would take up the matter with the management soon, sources added.

On July 20, Jet Airways said that certain developments in the market, including that in the Gulf region, as well as its continued efforts to enhance internal efficiencies, had resulted in the review of network, fleet and crew utilisation.

Consequently, as a proactive measure, it had made interim alignments to crew work patterns, which would be reviewed in future, in line with network growth, the spokesperson had said.