& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

GMG hits rough patch

Carrier sends 150 employees on leave without pay

Sohel Parvez
GMG Airlines has sent about 150 of its employees on leave without pay for up to four months to cut costs amid high fuel prices and aircraft shortage.
The country's biggest pri-vate carrier however promises to bring back the employees after it returns from the troubled situation that lingered for the last couple of months due to flight cuts.
The list of employees forced to go on "willing leave without pay" includes senior and midlevel officials. The terms of leave in many cases have become effective from
September 15.
Staffers working in different wings such as customer services, ground handling, traffic, sales and reservations and some senior officials in administration, including some expatriates, also figure on the list.
The number of the carriers' total regular employees is more than 1,000.
Many shocked employees, now on leave, have remained without arrears for the last month and are seeking jobs at private organisations, said people close to the situation.
“The letter I have received says I am going on leave will-
ingly and without pay. I hope I will be able to join work after the situation improves," a GMG employee, who sought to remain unnamed, told The Daily Star yesterday.
“I don't know how I can run my family. What I am doing now is submitting CVs to different organisations for a job," said the official.
The move came at a time when the country is going to celebrate the two biggest religious festivals: Eid and Durga Puja.
GMG said it would pay the arrears before Eid.
“We could not help but send our employees on leave only to cut costs. But of course,
we will bring them back after we return from this situation," said Ismail R Chowdhury, vice-president of GMG Airlines.
Faced with soaring fuel costs, aircraft shortages and operational losses, the carrier had earlier been forced to cut its flights to five international destinations out of six
The last cut in flights was on the Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route in July. It had earlier suspended flights to Dubai, Bangkok, Kathmandu and Delhi.
The only international flight, now operational, is to Kolkata.
“We have been out of opera-
tion for the last two months. How can it be possible for us to bear operational losses day after day," said Chowdhury. "The latest move will help the airline save about Tk 1 crore a month."
The 10-year-old GMG Airlines, which started tlje current year setting an ambitious target of achieving about Tk 1,350 crore, slipped into trouble after it had launched operations on the Dhaka-Dubai route, blessed mainly with a regular flow of Bangladeshi workers in and out of the Middle East.
Faced with an increase in fuel costs and price war, the carrier started suffering losses within a month after launch, as it counted hefty pay for the leased Boeing 747-300.
Since February, according to the official, the carrier has incurred operational losses due to high fuel costs, which forced a number of airlines around the world out of the market.
Last month, GMG moved to fight back with a repaired MD-82. The aircraft however was grounded again at Chittagong Airport shortly afterwards.
“We have replaced the engine of another MD-82. We hope we will be able to resume flights to Kuala Lumpur soon,” said Chowdhury.
sohel@thedailystar.net