Unlike other airlines, no layoffs, no salary cut for employees: Air India justifies allowance cut
National carrier Air India on Thursday said that it was decided in a review meeting with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) that no staff of the airline will be laid off amid the coronavirus-triggered economic crisis. Justifying its decision of reducing staff allowance by upto 50 percent, the airline stated that the recent decisions of the Air India Board regarding rationalization of staff cost were done so that no employee is asked to leave the job.
Air India recently announced that they will be cutting employee allowances by 20 per cent to 50 per cent. The revised allowances, as per the company, will be effective from April 1, 2020. The order also states that flying allowances are to be paid to pilots as per the actual flying hours clocked in a month.
"Recent decisions of AirIndia Board regarding rationalization of staff cost were reviewed in a meeting at @MoCA_goi this evening. The meeting reiterated that unlike other carriers which have laid off a large number of their employees, no employee of AirIndia will be laid off," Air India said.
The airline, however, said there has been no reduction in the Basic pay, DA and HRA of any category of employees. "The rationalization of allowances had to be implemented on account of the difficult financial condition of the airline that were exacerbated by COVID-19", Air India said.
Air India will review the current allowance cuts as per the flying situation. "Flying crew will be paid as per the actual number of hours flown. As domestic and international operations expand to reach pre-COVID levels and the financial position of Air India improves, the rationalization of allowances will be reviewed" it added.
