On Tuesday, Air India issued an order stating that it would send certain employees on leave without pay for upto five years.
For implementing this order, it has started the process of identifying employees on the basis of suitability, competence, efficiency, health and redundancy.
The order further said that an employee would be appraised on the above mentioned factors by the heads in the headquarter and regional director, and accordingly, employees would be identified, leading to compulsory Leave Without Pay (LWP) scheme into the effect.
Chairman and Managing Director, Rajiv Bansal, has been given the charge by the board of directors of the airline. He could send employees on leave “for six months or for a period of two years extendable upto five years.”
The order reads, “Names of such employees need to be forwarded to the General Manager (Personnel) in headquarter for obtaining necessary approval of CMD.”
The announcement was followed by numerous queries, and for the same, the airline was contacted.
We would not like to make any comment on the issue, the Air India Spokesperson responded.
Notably, GoAir has also furloughed most of its staff members on mandatory LWP since April.
Airlines were allowed to resume their operations from May 25th onwards in the country with 45% of the domestic flights after beginning of the lockdown. However, occupancy rate of Indian airlines has been 50-60% since then.
Due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Aviation sector saw a colossal impact. To trim the respective costs, many airlines have been issuing orders, which include pay cuts, laying off employees, and implementing LWP for its employees.
Moreover, global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that the demand for air travel will cut by 49% in 2020 vis-à-vis 2019 year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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