Over 1,000 Jet Airways pilots to go ahead with no flying call

Mumbai: Over 1,000 pilots of the struggling private carrier Jet Airways have decided to go ahead with their "no flying" call from April 1 following the airline failing to receive funds from the banks Friday, its pilots' guild has said.

The National Aviators Guild (NAG), the body claiming representation of some 1,100 pilots at Jet Airways, had last week announced its decision not to fly from April 1 if their pending salaries were not cleared and clarity on the revival plan not provided by March 31.

Days after that, the airline management went into the hands of SBI-led consortium of banks under a debt-recast plan.

"A part of the expected interim funding from SBI was supposed to be actioned on March 29. Unfortunately, the fund transfer has not taken place, and there is also no update on salary payment from the management. The collective decision of pilots taken at Mumbai and Delhi open house effective 1 April prevails," NAG president Karan Chopra said in a late evening communication to his members.

Earlier in the day, a source said that around 200 pilots had written individually to Jet CEO Vinay Dube, threatening to go on "leave of absence", and they were also planning to take legal recourse over non-payment of salary.

A source in the pilots' community said around 200 pilots have written to the CEO flagging concerns about non-payment of salaries. The pilots are also members of the NAG, the source added.