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Jet Airways said in a statement it would reduce probationary and temporary workers in other areas, including management and pilots, as it planned to cut flights by about 15 percent over winter.
"The economic viability of the industry has been severely affected by the record high fuel prices and most recently due to the crisis of the financial markets globally and the downturn in traffic," Jet said, adding the job cuts were not the result of a planned cost-saving alliance with Kingfisher Airlines. "Jet Airways expects these difficult market conditions to continue."
The Indian aviation industry, which has combined revenue of $6 billion, is expected to lose $2 billion in the year to March 2009, Jet said.
Shares in the company closed down 7.6 percent at 267.45 rupees in a Mumbai market that fell 5.9 percent.
In September, Jet had said it and its budget arm JetLite offered 526 flights daily with a fleet of 109 aircraft.
On Monday Jet Airways and No.2 private carrier Kingfisher Airlines, which between them have about 60 percent of the domestic market, agreed on an alliance to cut costs through code-sharing, sharing of ticketing, ground services, joint fuel management, crew training and utilisation.
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The news of 800 employees being shown the pink slip is not something out of the blue.This was expected by the Aviation Industry in particular. The Private Airline industry has grown rapidly over the few years and there needs a reality check about how many people can be absorbed by the Airlines. Even though is sounds bad, Let this Red letter day be an eye opener for all aspirants. Consolidation and code sharing is the name of the Game if these airlines needs to stay afloat. Deccan looking to buyback the stake is another issue that needs serious thinking on the part of Capt. Gopinath to make sure that he still has the wherewithall and capacity to fund and face immense compitetion from the Giants. The future of the Aiviation Industry looks bleak for all youngsters who are looking to pursue a Job in the industry as more Pink slips shall follow this unless there is a miracle of sorts or the Fuel prices drop down to $ 49 a barrel.
Does this alliance kill competetion? If yes, the govt should not allow this. And I think if there is a job loss govt should roll back all the ATF benefits and other considerations given to the airlines. These companies never speak about market forces when approaching govt for soaps, but when lay offs they speak abut market conditions.