Deccan says goodbye to 100 staffers in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, July 02: Around 100 youngsters across Gujarat had their dreams crashed when Deccan Charters, that had hired them two months ago, terminated their contracts on Thursday.

Thursday was the last working day for the bright talents who were lured with a salary hike of around 65 per cent by the airline which was to start its intrastate service from Ahmedabad.

The airline’s employees were served termination letters on June 16, with a notice period of 15 days ending on June 30. According to sources in Bangalore, the reason for the drastic step was the uncertainty looming over the launch of the service in Gujarat.

Though the airline’s owner, Captain Gopinath, denied shutting shop in Ahmedabad, the sacked employees couldn’t hold back their tears while sharing their views with Mirror.

Deccan Charter owner Capt Gopinath (below) says he has no plans to shut shop in Gujarat and it is only a temporary hitch

An SMS to Captain Gopinath if he had wound up operations in Ahmedabad, elicited the reply, “You mean the passenger operations to all cities in Gujarat? No way. There is a temporary hitch. I am expecting DGCA clearance. Once I get it, I will start. I have already acquired aircraft for the purpose.”

Another text message seeking clarity on the termination of the staff went unanswered.

A staffer on condition of anonymity said, “Every one of us got the pink slip by courier on June 16. To be honest, it was not a shock for most of us as we already knew something of this sort could happen any moment. And it finally happened.”

Blaming the airline for their plight, he said, “The airline has not only lost the entire staff, but their trust as well. In the termination letter they have mentioned that in future, whenever they plan to start services, depending on our availability, they will offer us suitable positions.”

Ahmedabad mirror

Simply grounded

» April 28: Deccan Charters announces the launch of intrastate air services in Gujarat

» May 7: Scheduled launch of the first flight from Surat but that does not happen due to absence of few clearances from DGCA

» June 2: Deccan terminates some of its contractual staff.

» June 16: Deccan sends termination notices to all employees across Gujarat with a notice period of 15 days, ending June 30.

–Agencies