Jet Airways Route Restructuring & Cost Saving Programme Amid Economic Slowdown & Global Financial Crisis

December 02, 2008: In a bid to overcome the challenges faced, by all businesses and all airlines in particular, due to the current economic slowdown worldwide, Jet Airways has adjusted its route network and adopted several internal measures to trim costs across the organization.

While the Airline will continue its focus on building a world class airline through its product, services and its people, Jet Airways has reviewed and implemented a string of measures to reduce costs.

These measures include route rationalization, reducing frequency and capacity in line with demand, pruning down long haul expansion plans, renegotiating contracts and payment schedules with its vendors, pushing back new aircraft deliveries, leasing out surplus aircraft, 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, reviewing and rationalizing perquisites and allowances across the Company, enforcing a general freeze in recruitment, eliminating overtime, identifying and eliminating wasteful activities and expenses, eliminating spends on expensive hotels, etc.

Over and above these measures, there is necessity to reduce costs even further. All employees earning a gross salary of over Rs. 75,000/- per month have been requested for a graduated wage cut over the next 12 months. For Pilots, this will be in the form of a combination of wage cut and allowance rationalization, which will bring the contribution of Pilots in line with the other employees in the Company. The top management team has taken a voluntary cut of 25 percent, effective Dec 08.

Jet Airways and its employees are united in their efforts and desire to work together to overcome the current difficulties faced by the airline and realize that these tough measures induced by the current economic environment are necessary to emerge as an even stronger, more competitive airline and to enable all its people to thrive in the longer term.