GoAir suspends international ops, offers 30-day leave without salary

The Wadia group airline announced today it is shutting all international flights till April 15

GoAir is implementing thirty days leave without pay for it's staff and is fast tracking the return of its older planes  to lessors as a sharp drop in domestic demand and clampdown on international travel hits business.

The Wadia group airline announced on Tuesday that it is shutting all international flights till April 15.  Training of new cabin crew is on hold and various other steps such as pay cuts too, are being examined by GoAir management as the Covid-19 crisis forces airlines to ground planes and cuty capacity.

Globally, airlines are curtailing flights while top airline executives are taking pay cuts and slashing their budgets.

Indian carriers too, are initiating cost saving steps to soften the blow of travel bans. IndiGo has suspended it's leave encashment scheme for pilots which it introduced last year to battle a shortage of captains. Now the scheme has been withdrawn as it's schedules have been curtailed due to travel restrictions. Vistara said it is cutting down on discretionary expenses and non customer facing spends. Operational cost is also being rationalised, Vistara said without giving details.

Air India too, has decided to cut allowances of its executive pilots, cabin crew and reduce fuel reimbursement of all officers by 10 per cent. 

In a statement GoAir said it has  initiated a short term and temporary rotational leave without pay program that will not only help the company counter the short term reduction in capacity, but will also ensure that a cross section of our employees stay away from the workplace to ensure business continuity. 

Knowing that this will put a financial burden on the affected employees this decision was not taken lightly, GoAir said.

"We have also taken many immediate measures to make our business more efficient; measures that will help us create an even stronger airline in the long run. GoAir remains on track to receive 12-15 aircraft each year through the end of 2025 in support of our planned growth," it added. The airline did not comment on redelivery of planes to lessors.