India's biggest private airline, Jet Airways, has reinstated more than 800 of its employees whose dismissal on Wednesday sparked public protests.
Its chairman, Naresh Goyal, said the move had been his alone and apologised "for all the agony you went through".
The company had announced it planned to lay off a total of 1,900 staff in the coming days in an effort to cut costs.
India's once booming aviation sector has been hard hit by soaring costs, mainly due to global fuel price rises.
Earlier, Air India said it was planning to offer nearly 15,000 of its employees leave without pay for up to five years.
A spokesman for the state-owned airline stressed that the offer would be voluntary.
Hundreds of Jet Airways employees held a protest in Mumbai after hearing about job cuts, while many politicians demanded an investigation.
On Thursday, Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal said that he had personally decided to reverse the cost-cutting decision and reinstate the cabin crew.
"I apologise for all the agony you went through," he told a news conference in Mumbai, adding that he could not bare to "see tears in their eyes".
"The management will have to understand sometimes in a family there are disagreements, but the father of the family decides."
Mr Goyal also stressed that the decision had not been the result of political pressure or meetings with any concerned parties.
On Monday, Jet Airways announced a code-sharing alliance with another private Indian airline, Kingfisher, to help cut costs.