They are left with grounded dreams and debt traps

Mumbai: The cost-cutting measures undertaken by Jet Airways have hit the 850 sacked cabin crew members hard. Most of these employees, in the age group of 22-28 years, had left lucrative jobs with other airlines to join Jet. Quite a few of them have huge house or car loans to pay off.
AZX “I gave up my job with Kingfisher airlines to join Jet in February 2007 and see what I have got,” said Rekha Malhotra. All that the sacked employees are left with is a debt trap and Rs 60,000 approximately (Rs 55,000 as the returnable deposit they paid to the airline and Rs5,000 as one month’s basic salary they are entitled to get as per their contract).
Take the case of Shruti Seth (name changed), who shifted from Manipur to Mumbai in January 2007 after she got an offer from Jet Airways to work as an air-hostess. “I still regret that I did not complete my graduation. At least I could work somewhere with a degree in my hand,” says 19-year-old Seth. She earns Rs 29,000 per month, out of which Rs 20,000 is her monthly expenditure. “I spend Rs8,000 as her house rent, Rs5,000 as monthly installment while the remaining amount is spent on food, shopping, etc,” she added.
Although she has saved some money, it will not sustain her in the longer run as the job market in the aviation industry is going through serious turbulence. “I am not sure if I will be able to get another job in aviation itself. And the hotel industry, which is the alternative, is a bad pay master,” she said. Moreover, since most of the sacked crew members were first-timers, they will find it difficult to negotiate salary in the hospitality industry.
16/10/08 Navita Singh/Daily News & Analysis