The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mumbai

Jet Airways, India's top private airline, has decided to lay off about 800 to 850 employees due to falling air travel and soaring costs, Indian papers said on Wednesday, citing unnamed officials. The Times of India said cabin crew members under probation would account for most of the cuts, while the Business Standard said the layoffs would include cabin crew, pilots, ground staff and management. "As a professional organisation we had to do a comprehensive rationalisation of our network by taking into account the current traffic t Consequent to this we will have to release the unconfirmed staff," the Times quoted a Jet official as saying. A Jet Airways spokeswoman could not be reached for comment immediately. On Monday Jet Airways and No.2 private carrier Kingfisher Airlines, which between them have about 60 percent of the domestic market, agreed on an alliance to cut costs through code-sharing, sharing of ticketing, ground services, joint fuel management, crew training and utilisation.