JetLite pilots threaten to quit unless seniority maintained in integration with Jet

Jet Airways has begun the process of integrating pilots of LCC subsidiary JetLite with itself but close to 250 of these pilots have been put in a quandary. JetLite will eventually be shuttered and therefore Jet Airways has asked these pilots to apply for positions in its fleet. Here's the catch though: the hours they logged for JetLite will not be taken into account while calculating their total experience. In others words, though Jet Airways says their seniority etc will be maintained, the pilots of ill-fated JetLite are sure to suffer a career loss.

Top management of Jet, including CEO designate Cramer Ball and COO Hamid Ali today met JetLite pilots. Our sources tell us the pilots have made it clear that unless their seniority is maintained, they will look for greener pastures. "Today JetLite's senior most pilot is being asked to join Jet below their junior most pilot. Which simply implies that a pilot with 40 years of aviation experience and 25,000 hours of flying would be junior to a co-Pilot who is literally learning how to adjust his seat in the flight deck," sources said.

Jet Airways meets JetLite pilots to discuss integration plan

Cramer Ball, chief executive officer (designate) of Jet Airways and senior airline executives today met with JetLite pilots in New Delhi.

Discussing future plans for the Jet Aviation Group, Ball detailed the airline's three-year business plan, the airline's proposed single brand strategy, specifically operational requirements for Jet Airways, JetLite and the opportunities this would create for the pilot community.

JetLite pilots to lose seniority on Jet merger

In an unprecedented move in India’s aviation sector, pilots of JetLite, the no-frills carrier owned by Jet Airways (which will soon cease to exist) have been told that their previous flying experience will not hold any value as and when they are absorbed into the parent airline.
The move has created a lot of anxiety and uncertainty among JetLite pilots regarding their future. Jet Airways’ chief executive-designate Cramer Ball is scheduled to meet with JetLite’s 230 pilots on September 9 and shed further light on the company’s future plans.
Some pilots of the low cost-airline that Jet acquired from the Sahara Group in 2007 told FE on condition of anonymity that they may quit following the meeting, if the management’s explanation doesn’t satisfy them.

Aiming at cost-cutting, Jet Airways asks JetLite pilots to join its crew

In the service conditions however, the airline said "only flying hours logged on 9W (Jet Airways) aircraft shall be counted for the purpose of pilot movement with 9W for career progression," which means hours clocked on operating JetLite flights will not be counted.

"It is absurd that the flying hours we have put in on a Boeing 737 on JetLite will not be taken into account when we join Jet Airways. This means my junior in Jet will automatically be promoted much before me," he said. A Jet spokesperson said the induction "will open career opportunities not only for a command upgrade but also for exposure to flying international routes and also movement to wide body aircraft".

Sushil Modi wins case against JetLite, awarded Rs 1.5 lakh

New Delhi: Seven years after Sushil Modi, former deputy chief minister of Bihar, suffered a spinal cord injury while being ferried by a shuttle bus at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) to board a flight, the consumer disputes redressal forum (New Delhi) has asked JetLite to compensate the BJP leader with Rs 1.5 lakh for “negligent conduct and hurting the feelings of passengers in taking his trauma lightly”.
Modi, who was on the bus with two other senior BJP leaders (now cabinet ministers) — Ravi Shankar Prasad and Kalraj Mishra — on December 2, 2007, fell and hit a pole inside a JetLite bus when the bus driver, who was allegedly speaking on his mobile while driving, was forced to brake hard to avoid hitting an Air Deccan aircraft.