Sahara to pay loyalty bonus

New Delhi: The Rs 1,450 crore Jet-Sahara deal has come as a windfall for 3,700-odd Air Sahara employees. As a parting gesture to its airline employees, Sahara group is dolling out loyalty bonus to all, irrespective of whether they join Jet or continue with the Sahara group.

Company sources told ET that each employee is likely to be given bonus equivalent to two to three month’s salary, though the exact figure is still being worked out. When contacted, a Sahara group spokesperson confirmed the move, but said the actual financial outgo for the group is still to be firmed up.

The bonus amount would depend on the grade and the position that an employee occupies, and for some senior management executives could even go as high as Rs 25 lakh.

The Jet team, which took control of the operations of Air Sahara on Friday, is likely to take couple of months to identify the number of employees it is likely to retain in the new company. As per industry estimates, of the 3,700 employee, around 1,200 comprising largely of pilots, cabin crew and technical staff, including engineers, are an obvious choice for Jet to retain.

The remaining would be given job options in Jet or the Sahara group. As the new airline would be positioned as a value-player in the market, most expect Jet management to keep employee per aircraft numbers low. However, given the resource crunch in the market, analysts expect most airline employees to get lucrative offers from other carriers. Already Air Sahara has become the favourite hunting ground for HR placement agencies.