MUMBAI - INDIA'S biggest private airline, Jet Airways, announced it has dropped plans to sack hundreds of staff following angry protests.

Jet chairman Naresh Goyal also apologised to the 800 people laid off earlier in the week as part of a bigger cost-cutting plan involving the shedding of 1,900 jobs.

'I could not sleep at night. I was mentally disturbed when I saw tears in their eyes. I apologise for all the agony you went through,' Mr Goyal said at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday.

He said he had made a 'personal decision... without any external pressure.' 'The management will have to understand this,' he added.

Most of the employees laid off were newly hired flight attendants and ground crew, mostly in their early 20s.

Shocked employees, a number in uniform, took to the streets this week, many crying at the unexpected sackings two weeks ahead of the major Hindu festival Diwali - a time when many in India spend heavily on gifts.

Several politicians also expressed displeasure and surprise at the firings.

'You cannot just sack so many people suddenly,' India's Oil Minister Murli Deora told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

Jet posted a full year loss to March of 2.53 billion rupees (S$77 million) and has defaulted on payment of fuel bills worth 2.59 billion rupees to the state-run Indian Oil Corporation. -- AFP