Tag: Air India

Air India unions have opposed the 10% “Covid pay cut” in their March salaries. While PM Modi has urged employers not to cut wages during current crisis, AI unions in a joint letter to aviation minister H S Puri on Friday about the “unilateral pay cut imposed for three months against government instructions.” IndiGo has reversed its decision to cut April salary.

Air India on Thursday temporarily suspended the contracts of around 200 employees including pilots, who were re-employed after retirement, as all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended in the country till April 14 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. AI has cut the allowances of all employees, except cabin crew, by 10% for 3 months.

DGCA on Sunday said it was suspending breathalyser tests, which is done to detect alcohol, for all aviation personnel, hours after an Air India union had requested it to do so citing that these tests could spread coronavirus. The decision comes after SpiceJet said one of its pilots had tested positive for the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In a bid to minimise cabin crew contact with passengers, Air India has for now decided to serve packed meal for some time. It is also stopping service of magazines, newspapers, cold/wet towels, and blankets with immediate effect. The airline is also temporarily going to cut pay by 10% for some employees.

Bracing against coronavirus impact, Indian carriers, like their global counterparts have begun cost-cutting measures starting with salary reductions. On Thursday, IndiGO, India’s largest carrier in terms of market share announced across the board cuts in salary. Earlier, Air India and GoAir had announced similar mesaures.

In a bid to cut costs amid the massive coronavirus blow to travel, Air India has reduced the crew allowances and lowered fuel reimbursement limit by 10% for all officers.

The government on Friday extended the deadline for submitting bids for buying 100 per cent stake in Air India till April 30. The deadline was originally set at March 17. The government had allowed access to the “virtual data room” of Air India to interested bidders late in February and allowed them further time till March 6 to pose queries.

As the government has restarted the process of Air India’s disinvestment this year, Vistara chairman Bhaskar Bhat on Monday said that they were evaluating the national carrier and the decision on bidding will be taken later.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appreciated the ‘high level commitment to duty showcased by the officials of Air India and ministry of health who conducted evacuation operation of Indian citizens stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan.”

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Wednesday it is “too early” to take a call on Air India, in which the government has decided to sell its entire 100 per cent stake.

While the terms of the second divestment attempt have been considerably sweetened by relaxing eligibility norms for bidders, allowing them to take on a much lower debtcum-liability burden and the government exiting fully, AI’s biggest strength could be its network.

IndiGo and Air India — the only two Indian carriers that fly to China — have started curtailing their flights to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak . While IndiGo will suspend its Delhi-Chengdu and Bengaluru-Hong Kong daily, it will continue the Kolkata-Guangzhou flights ‘for now’. Air India will suspend its Delhi-Shanghai from January 31 to February 14.