IndiGo on Monday said senior employees will have to go on compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for up to four days per month till September as passenger traffic has reduced due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The second wave has been difficult for all of us and has also resulted in reduction in passenger loads. As a result our commercial schedule had to be curtailed accordingly," Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President Flight Operations, IndiGo, said in an email to pilots of the airline.
Due to the reduced capacity, the airline will have to institute an LWP programme for all employees which would range from 1.5 to 4 days depending on the employee group, he noted. Employees in Band B and Band A have not been touched under this LWP programme. Majority of the employees of the airline are in Band B and Band A, which are the lowermost bands. Mittra stated, "All pilots would undertake 3 days of LWP for the next 3 months effective 1st June, 2021."
Domestic air travel has significantly reduced in the country during the last couple of weeks. On February 28, around 3 lakh domestic air passengers travelled in India. On May 30, domestic flights operated in India with around 70,000 passengers approximately.
Mittra said in his email, "We have been focusing on our vaccination drive and we have been able to facilitate vaccination for our employees at various stations. As on date, approximately 80% of our eligible pilots have been administered their 1st dose of vaccine."
Last month, the Board of Directors of InterGlobe Aviation Limited, which is the holding company of IndiGo, had approved the raising of funds of up to Rs 3,000 crore through a Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP).
According to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), recovery in domestic and international travel has been delayed by three and six months respectively, due to the COVID-19 resurgence.