Jet Airways has deferred payment of medical reimbursement to its employees by a year, a move that may help the company save Rs 12-15 crore (Rs 120-150 million) this year.

"Yesterday, the management informed all employees through an e-mail that medical reimbursements for 2008-09 have been deferred by one year," a Jet Airways official told PTI.

The Naresh Goyal-owned air-carrier was badly hit by declining passenger traffic and high fuel costs in the first four months of the previous fiscal (2008-09). In Q3 FY 09, the company had posted a loss of Rs 214.18 crore (Rs 2.14 billion). Jet Airways officials were not available for comments.

The employees receive Rs 15,000 on an average annually on this account, the official said.

With domestic air-carriers in the red for the past several quarters, they have resorted to several cost-saving measures, including pruning salary packages, capacity reduction and rationalising routes.

According to the International Air Transport Association, Indian air carriers are likely to post combined losses to the tune of $1.5 to $2billion in 2008- 09 fiscal.