New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Jet Airways, the country’s largest private carrier, Monday said it would not renew the contracts of some foreign pilots and would freeze recruitment to vacant positions.

“The airline would phase out excess expatriate pilots over the next few months and would not replace them,” a Jet spokesperson told IANS. However, the official refused to give the number of the foreign pilots who face retrenchment.

Jet reported losses of Rs.2.14 billion (Rs.214.18 crore) in the quarter ended Dec 31. It also discontinued few of its international operations like the Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco flight to rationalise its routes and minimise losses.

The airline has over 1,350 pilots of which 250 are foreign pilots. Indian airlines pay more to foreign pilots than their domestic counterparts.

The aviation industry started hiring foreign pilots when the demand for trained senior pilots was so high. But now the scene is changing, the official said.