India’s Top Airline to Put Some Staff on Leave Without Pay

IndiGo, Asia’s biggest budget airline by market value, will ask some employees to take as many as five days leave a month without pay over the next three months as the coronavirus continues to take a toll on the global aviation industry.

The airline, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., will also implement a previously announced plan to cut salaries, Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in an email to employees Friday, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News. IndiGo initially announced pay cuts in March, but then reversed the decision. Now it is going ahead with the plan, which could see salary reductions of as much as 15% for mid- and senior-level employees and up to 25% for top executives.

Airlines around the world are struggling to stay afloat as the virus has disrupted so much air travel, forcing them to cut jobs, salaries or even collapse. Close to 3 millions jobs in aviation and related industries could be lost this year in India alone because of the pandemic, as well as more than $11 billion in revenue, according to the International Air Transport Association.

“As and when we resume operations, it is likely that the airline will start with a much lower capacity initially and gradually build up capacity in succeeding months,” Dutta said in the email. The majority of employees won’t be affected by the decision on leave without pay, he said.

IndiGo controls almost half of the domestic Indian market and is the world’s biggest customer for Airbus SE’s best-selling A320neo jets, with more than 700 on order.