The covid-19 pandemic has brought many unprecedented changes in our lives but economic turbulence remains the first and foremost. With flights being suspended in the wake of the pandemic, aviation industry has suffered major bankruptcy that has led many airlines to cut their staffs.
In the latest, India’s biggest private airline IndiGo has decided to lay off 10 percent of its workforce.
According to IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta, the company after precisely assessing and reviewing all possible situations, has come to the conclusion that it needs to bid “a painful adieu” to 10 percent of its staff. IndiGo currently has around 23,531 strong work force.
“It is for the first time in the history of IndiGo that we have undertaken such a painful measure. This is indeed a very unfortunate turn of events from the optimistic growth trajectory we had carved out for ourselves just six months ago; but this pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate our best laid plans.
To help the impacted employees’ tide over the uncertainties emanating from this decision, IndiGo has created a ‘6E Care package’,” Dutta said.
“Even now, IndiGo is flying only a small percentage of its full fleet of 250 airplanes. This has been one of the toughest decisions that we have had to take and we are ensuring that the transition process for the impacted employees is carried out seamlessly, professionally and with the utmost respect and compassion,” he further added.
“Right at the start of this crisis, IndiGo understood the gravity of the situation. For us, it was critical to minimise the impact of the pandemic on our employees, and in fact IndiGo was one of the few airlines globally which paid full salaries for the month of March and April, despite the disruption in business,” Dutta said.
“And from where things stand currently, it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations,” he culminated.
Airlines in the country resumed domestic operation on May 25 after a gap of two months, as the government allowed flights on domestic routes only. However, only one-third capacity of passenger load was allowed, leaving no options of profitability for the civil aviation sector.
