Barely a fortnight after it launched international operations and integrated low-cost carrier Simplify Deccan with it, Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines plans to lay off at least 300 employees, official orders for which are to be conveyed on Monday.
The move closely follows a recent announcement by value carrier, JetLite, fully-owned subsidiary of Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways that it was downsizing by at least 750 employees. Confirming the move to Business Standard, Kingfisher Airlines in a statement said it was "part of a process of integration of the two entities".
"We examined the complete organisation structure of the airline and mapped the skill sets of the existing talent pool with the projected talent requirements of the company," the statement said, adding, "Many employees were counselled on their career path progression and best utilisation of their individual skill sets. As a result, a set of 300 employees have chosen to move on and have parted ways with the company and/or put in their resignations."
It is also believed that of the 300 employees, only five per cent are from Kingfisher Airlines, and the rest from the erstwhile Simplify Deccan.
Kingfisher Airlines is reported to have a payout bill of around Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) for the severance package. The separation scheme covers 200 employees in the airline's security department, another 50 from flight operations and around another 50 from engineering and maintenance, according to company sources.
The severance package, informed sources said, is equal to two months' gross salary for every completed year of service subject to a minimum of three months' pay-out.
Kingfisher Airlines, after taking a hit on account of rising crude prices, has cut flights by at least 22 per cent from its domestic and international network.
The airline has also confirmed deferring deliveries of at least 29 narrow-bodied aircraft and selling some of its wide-bodied A340 aircraft fleet. It is also restructuring its international operations.
The airline's losses were pegged at Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) for the last fiscal - before crude had soared to the levels of the past six months.
