Over a hundred Jet Airways employees, who were given the pink slip a day ago, protested at the domestic terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday. The airline has retrenched 1,900 probationary staff, citing ‘operational’ reasons. The employees said they were protesting because the company was not telling them the exact reason behind the move.“Why don’t company officials come out and talk to us? They have gone into hiding after handing us our termination letters,” said Rajat, 22, who is among the 300 employees axed in Delhi.According to the company, the retrenchment follows an unexpected downslide in the industry, and the move is expected to save US$1 million.“How do you feel when you are ready for office, waiting for your pick-up cab and it doesn’t turn up? You call up office to find out the reason and are told you are no longer on the rolls,” said an angry Anurag, taking a break from raising slogans against the company, its chief Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya. The protestors also raised pro-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena slogans, thanking Raj Thackeray for raising his voice on the issue in Mumbai.The protestors also raised anti-government slogans for not taking any action against the company. Member of Parliament from Agra and film actor Raj Babbar, who was to take a flight to Chandigarh, joined the protestors and said: “I will speak to Mallya. I strongly oppose this move. Destroying the careers of so many young people is not fair. I will raise the issue in Parliament.” Babbar recently left the Samajwadi Party to join the Congress.The timing of the Jet Airways’ decision — in the middle of a festival season — drew flak from Petroleum Minister Murli Deora who said the airline had defaulted on payment of Rs 259-crore in fuel bills. “I appeal to (Naresh) Goyal not to retrench people and try to find a solution. We have supported him several times (but) this is not the right time to retrench people, particularly before Diwali,” he said.The protest also led to disruption of work at the Jet Airways counter as the agitating staff did not allow the sale of tickets and even tried to stop the cabin crew from entering terminal-1A. The serving employees, on the other hand, were in a fix whether to express solidarity with their former colleagues or quietly continue with the job.“I really don’t know what to do. I could have been one of them. If I don’t report for duty, the company will ask for an explanation,” said a confused Abhishek (24). “I am extremely insecure about my job and I know I can be fired any time,” said Jenny (22). “We have been fired without any notice. We are not going to harm anyone, but we will not allow any of the Jet flights to take off,” said Ashpreet Singh, a protestor. The airline management, however, did not let the protestors disrupt flight schedule.
