Its rival Kingfisher Airlines seems to have learnt a lesson from the whole episode. So, now when Vijay Mallya’s airline is sacking people, it is being done in a quiet and systematic manner.

An employee at Kingfisher’s reservation department who was fired this month told DNAthat the FSC laid off around 90 cabin crew, four sales personnel from Delhi and several other staff over the last two months.

“I was asked by the HR (human resource) to resign. They told me that if I didn’t, then they would terminate me. This is what they are doing with other employees, too. They create a situation where employees are forced to quit,” said the former employee of the airline.

Poor performance is generally used as an excuse to get rid of an unwanted worker.
She said morale of the employees was very low as they have not received any increment or promotion in the last one year.

According to her, integration of Kingfisher and G R Gopinath-owned Deccan
Air has also resulted in over 400 employees leaving the company.

“The company has been cutting its employee strength, but in a phased manner, to avoid coming under the media glare. Instead of firing staff in one shot, they are letting go one or two persons a week,” she alleged.

And such sporadic firing has been going on at the airline for some time to align reduced capacity with workforce. The full-service carrier, which has moved 70% of its capacity to budget class, slashed 20% capacity in FY09.

Sources at Jet Airways also revealed that the airline was reducing staff to cut personnel costs.

Responding to queries on the gradual lay-offs, a Kingfisher spokesperson said; “There have been no lay-offs of 90 cabin crew as alleged by your source. This is untrue and we completely deny it. I also categorically state that there have been no lay-offs in any department”.

He further said the information on four resignations from the Delhi team was untrue.
“More importantly, as I mentioned, it may be extremely tempting to view normal attrition with a different lens just because the entire aviation sector is in turmoil,” he said.

The move could effectively lower pilot salaries. The airline has a crew of 480 pilots. Forty of these are expatriates under contract who are, therefore, outside the purview of the new policy.

The new salary structure will have a basic salary and an additional flying allowance which ranges from Rs 600 to Rs 1,300 per flying hour, depending on the pilot’s seniority. The new structure will come into effect from January 1, 2009. Company sources said pilots were informed of this development in an email from Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya more than a fortnight ago.

“In order to ensure optimum utilisation of the KF (Kingfisher) Fleet and its Pilots, I am extending the concept of hourly pay, as is already prevalent in the erstwhile DN (Deccan, now Kingfisher Red), for the purpose of salary alignment of pilots of Kingfisher Airlines as a whole which will further assist the pilot integration process. The hourly pay concept is an internationally recognised compensation norm for pilots worldwide,” Mallya’ s email said.

Explaining the new pay plan, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said the salary has been structured in such a way that those who fly for 70 hours will get more than their current earning. For instance, a commander flying a narrow-bodied aircraft used to get Rs 4.37 lakh as salary, on the assumption that he flew 70 hours a month.

“We were assured that amount whether we actually flew 70 hours or 10,” said a Kingfisher commander.

Under the new structure, the commander gets a monthly basic salary of Rs 3.5 lakh, and Rs 1,300 for every hour of flying he puts in Given the airline’s current fleet and flight operations, many pilots put in between 10 and 30 hours of flying, they would get around Rs 389,000 (at the most), about 10 per cent less than their earlier pay.

Commanders flying wide-bodied aircraft would get an additional salary of Rs 60,000. This has now fallen to Rs 52,500.

Going by the same calculations, co-pilot salaries would be hit by around 14 per cent.

Pilots taking, say, a month’s leave will earn only the basic salary.

About two months ago, Kingfisher, which incurred losses of Rs 483 crore in the second quarter of 2008-9, tied up with Jet for a resource-sharing arrangement and had cut salaries of some 50 trainee pilots by more than 75 per cent, from around Rs 90,000 to Rs 20,000 per month.

Kingfisher Airlines took to the Indian skies on May 9, 2005, and in a short span of time has become one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. Kingfisher Airlines boasts of a brand new fleet of Airbus; the

A319s/A320s/ A321s, ATRs, A330s, A340s, A350s and soon to be inducted A380s.

We invite “Flying Models” who exude charm, vibrance & professionalism. Females with a zest to serve and prime concern for the safety of our Guests on board. Candidates should have an outgoing personality and must possess the ability to work in a team environment. We are looking for competent and dynamic airline professionals to be a part of our team in the following positions:

Flight Attendants/ Cabin Crew

- Only female candidates may apply (Age between 18-27 years)

- Minimum educational qualification: 10+2/ HSC with fluency in English

- Minimum height 160 cms (5’3”) / Maximum height 178 cms (5’10”)

- Attractive salary on par with industry standards

- Accommodation will be provided for all selected candidates

- Medically fit to meet airline crew requirement

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In-flight Managers/Experienced Cabin Crew

Female candidates (Age between 20-32 years)
Minimum educational qualification: O+2 / HSC level with fluency in English
Minimum height 160 cms (5’3”) / Maximum height 178 cms (5’10”)
Minimum 2 years’ flying experience with a full service airline
Medically fit to meet airline crew requirements
Ability to lead the team

In-flight Services Director

Female candidates (Age between 23-32 years)
Minimum educational qualification: O+2 / HSC level with fluency in English
Minimum height 160 cms (5’3”) / Maximum height 178 c ms (5’10”)
Weight-As per airline standards
Clear complexion devoid of blemishes, scars and tattoos (face, arms & legs)
Minimum 5 years’ flying experience as cabin crew with a full service reputed airline, out of which 2 years must be at supervisory level
Prior flying experience with an International airline will be preferred
Medically fit to meet airline crew requirements
Ability to lead the team