Jet Airways, owing to the accumulated losses and the current slowdown in the economy, has announced a slew of cost-cutting measures, including a 5-25 per cent cut in salaries of its employees who are earning above Rs 75,000 per month. The airline said in a media statement that for the pilots, this will be in the form of a combination of wage cut and allowance rationalisation, which will bring the contribution of pilots in line with the company's other employees.

On November 23, employees earning more than Rs 75,000 a month agreed to take a graded pay-cut. The Indian pilots, however, asked the airline to lay-off 240 expatriate pilots, who earn 50 per cent more than their Indian counterparts.

Jet is further taking measures like curtailing its network and trimming costs to cope with the declining air traffic. Jet is rationalising routes, frequency, and capacity in line with demand, pruning long-haul expansion plans, renegotiating contracts and payment schedules with its vendors and pushing back new aircraft deliveries.

Jet is also reviewing and rationalising perks and allowances across the company, enforcing a freeze in recruitment, eliminating overtime and identifying and eliminating wasteful activities. The airline is also trying to lease out surplus aircrafts, letting go of excess foreign pilots in accordance with the terms of their contract, trimming executive ranks by reducing expatriate executives in India and overseas.