'Salary cut lesser evil than layoffs in aviation space'

Slashing salaries is a "lesser evil" than pink slips in the domestic aviation sector, feel HR experts against the backdrop of a leading airline asking junior pilots to take ten days off every month as part of cost balancing effort.

While the domestic aviation sector has been registering double-digit growth continuously for over two years, Jet Airways' move to reduce junior pilots' pay and disinvestment proposal of Air India have thrown the spot light on the prevailing tough business conditions amid stiff competition.

The sector might be one of the fastest growing in the world but most airlines have wafer-thin margins as deeply discounted fares and rise in aviation fuel prices along with staff costs take a toll on their overall profitability.

Against the backdrop of Jet Airways' decision, HR experts opined that the move seems to be a case of "organisational stress" even though cost optimisation is a major concern for most of the sectors.

Staffing firm TeamLease Services co-founder and executive vice president Rituparna Chakraborty said it is a specific situation of "organisational stress".

"... between letting go off employees and salary cut of employees, any day, salary cut is a lesser evil," she told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)