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Sacked Jet staff protest at Delhi airport

Parul Sharma

They shouted slogans against Naresh Goyal and Vijay Mallya

— Photo: V V Krishnan.

ON A WARPATH: Employees of Jet Airways on a protest march at the IGI domestic terminal in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: A large number of cabin crew employees of Jet Airways staged a demonstration at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Thursday protesting against their abrupt dismissal from service and demanding that they be taken back.

Dressed in uniform, the cabin crew staff of the private air carrier gathered at Terminal 1-B and shouted slogans against Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya and in favour of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for supporting their Mumbai colleagues.

The employees stood in front of the airline counters inside the terminal to prevent people from buying tickets, leading to their closure for a brief period.

About 300 Jet Airways cabin crew members have been laid off in Delhi alone.

“I was waiting for my cab to take me to the airport on Tuesday. When it did not turn up, I called up our rostering office and that’s when they told me that I have been de-rostered and no reasons were given. They did not even have the decency to call up the crew and inform them about the decision,” said a flight steward.

Rahul Jain, who hails from Jaipur, regretted his decision to quit his high-paying job with Qatar Airways to join Jet Airways to be closer home.

“My father recently had a heart attack and I wanted to be with my family, which is why I took up a job with this airline. I have taken a loan for my sister’s wedding. And suddenly, I am out of job. I have no idea how I will repay the loan. When we joined the airline, they said you have become our family. Is this the way to deal with family members?” he asked.

The employees carried out a protest march to Terminal 1-A to meet the airline base manager Vipul Bhalla. They even tried to prevent other Jet Airways cabin crew from entering the airport.

Not all Delhi-based employees who have been terminated are unconfirmed staff. A number of them had already signed their confirmation letter sometime ago but were yet to receive a copy of it.

“This seems like a pre-planned move. Why else were our confirmation letters not released from the Mumbai office in time? This is no way to treat us. There are other ways of cutting costs,” said another steward.

The retrenched staff also feels “cheated” because they spent Rs. 2 lakh on their training in Mumbai.

At a meeting with Mr. Bhalla, the staff told him that they were willing to work without pay for a certain period. He reportedly assured them that he would convey it to the management in Mumbai.

Actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar, who was flying out of the airport, assured the employees that he would speak to the Jet Airways chief.

Raktima Bose reports from Kolkata:

Members of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Ground Workers’ Union, supported by the Centre of Indian Trade Union, threatened here on Thursday to stall Jet Airways flight operations from the city if the airline’s decision to lay off 1,900 airline staff was not repealed.

They submitted a memorandum to Jet Airways authorities demanding reinstatement of the laid-off employees.

The union members staged a demonstration in front of the domestic terminal on Thursday along with some of the retrenched staff. Twenty-one cabin crew have been handed the pink slip by the airline in the city.

Ground staff of Air India and Kingfisher Airlines also joined the demonstration.

“We want our jobs back even if that means a compromise on our salary,” said Soumen Chakroborty, an entrenched cabin crew member. He had joined the airline in February 2008 and was on probation.

He added that they were not served any termination letter and the airline has not yet contacted them personally.

“The deposit amount of Rs. 55,000 that we had to pay at the beginning of our training with the airline as well as our salary for the months of September and October are still not been cleared by the authorities,” said another retrenched cabin crew member Rumela Mukherjee.

“We support the All India Airport Employees’ Union’s demand for Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel’s resignation,” said Swapan Gupta, general secretary of the NSCBI Airport Ground Workers’ Union.

He also pointed out Air India’s declaration to offer leave without pay for three to five years to 15,000 employees and threatened to “launch greater movement if such irrational policies are adopted by the airlines in the name of cutting costs.”

Related stories:

Jet staff protest retrenchment

Minister feels sorry

Timing of Jet's layoff decision bad: Deora

No retrenchment in Air India, says Aviation Minister

Labour ministry looking into Jet retrenchment issue: Fernandes

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