It will be hard for employees to forget how they were dismissed summarily (many of them learnt of their job loss as they waited for their transport to pick them up in the morning and take them to work), and I will not be surprised if there is a clear divide between those who got the pink slips and those who escaped them.

In fact any kind of mass dismissal in future will be very tough for Jet — even if dictated by business imperatives — because, among other things, a union could well be the outcome of this misadventure.

Goyal's problems go deeper, for he has also failed to retain the loyalty of some of his top officials. His centralised style of functioning has led to an exodus at the middle and senior management levels over the last couple of years.

Moreover, just a few weeks prior to the fiasco with the 1,900 employees, Jetlite, the airline's wholly-owned subsidiary, fired 800 staffers.

At that point, Goyal was neither moved by their tears, agony or helplessness; nor did he feel the need to protect what he now calls his family.

Nor indeed has it been reported that he got a headache and high blood pressure, or that he suffered sleepless nights when that round of firing happened.

Image: Naresh Goyal chats with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel (right) during a press conference. | Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty Images

Also read: Asia's top 10 budget airlines

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