Jet Airways into cost cutting, sack 72 expat pilots

India’s leading private carrier Jet Airways has now embarked on a cost cutting exercise to insulate itself from the ongoing turbulence in the aviation industry in the country.

The airline in a recent statement said that it has decided to sack 72 of its 183 high-cost expatriate pilots. The airline has given sufficient indication that its latest effort is aimed at cutting costs as well as take advantage of the unrest at crisis-ridden Air India and Kingfisher Airlines. This is also a way of making sure that the airline stays relatively insulated from the aviation industry’s turbulence and stay ahead of the game.  

Jet Airways stated that it has decided not to hire any foreign pilots in order to save costs as the rupee had dropped drastically. Apart from this, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also given the Indian carriers a 2013 deadline to phase out expatriate pilots.

The airline has also been allowed to operate 74 additional international flights from the ongoing summer schedule. These include new Jet Airways flights to Bangladesh, Kuwait, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Singapore, Dar-E-Salam and Bangkok.