The pilots have cited non-payment of salary dues as the reason behind the step, and said they would not fly from 10 am on Monday.
According to news agency PTI, the Jet Airways’ pilots body National Aviator’s Guild (NAG) has announced this decision. The pilots along with engineers and senior management have not been given their salaries since January this year. These pilots belong to the National Aviator’s Guild which claims to represent 1,100 pilots of the total 1,600 with full service carrier.
A NAG source told PTI that they had not been paid for nearly three-and-a-half months and they did not know when they would be paid.
As per information, the NAG had called for no-flying from April 1 on the same issue. It was in the month of March that the pilots’ union of Jet Airways had approached the government with their concerns about salary arrears. The crisis-hit Jet Airways had been making delayed salary payments for a few months. It was also a defaulter as far as loan repayments were concerned.
On the other hand, on March 31, the NAG deferred the agitation to April 15, saying it wanted to give more time to the new management. It is to be known that currently, Jet Airways is under the management control of SBI-led consortium of lenders. This was after the approval of a debt related plan in March and it also saw the quitting of its founder chairman Naresh Goyal.
On March 8, the then chairman Naresh Goyal had written to Etihad Airways Group CEO Tony Douglas seeking an urgent funding of Rs 750 crore.
Jet Airways has been looking at various ways to raise funds amid the big crisis. Not only the flights are being cancelled in big numbers, but also stations are being shut down.
(With PTI inputs)