As many as 16,500 employees- pilots, engineers and ground staff who have not been paid for months have been left in the dark zone, with the company failing to keep up its word on clearing their dues.
In a letter to the employees, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube wrote that it was “not an easy decision to make, but without the interim funding, which we have been repeatedly requesting for, we are simply unable to conduct flight operations in a manner that delivers to the very reasonable expectations of our guests, employees, partners and service providers.”
At the need of an hour, carrier SpiceJet has stepped at the right time and hired over 500 employees, including 100 pilots, of Jet Airways and is also planning to hire more employees.
SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh in a recent statement said that his carrier is giving “first priority” to Jet Airways staff in recruitment.
“As we expand and grow, we are giving first preference to those who have recently lost their jobs due to the unfortunate closure of Jet Airways,” Singh said.
SpiceJet has already hired more than 100 pilots, 200 cabin crew and 200 plus technical and airport staff recently, Singh added.
“We will do more. We will also induct a large number of planes in our fleet soon,” Singh added.
Jet, which had been constantly fighting ‘financial turbulence’ for months faced a final blow on Tuesday after the association of lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) refused a request to inject Rs 983-crore in emergency funding to remain afloat.
The airline which was operating just 5 flights on Wednesday did not even have enough funds to buy fuel or pay other service charges, forcing them to quit the work thereby, bringing an end to the journey that all started 26 years ago.
Previous attempts to sell Jet Airways with a debt of over Rs 8000 crore had failed.