Air India says no layoffs, no deduction in basic pay

Air India on Thursday, July 23rd announced that there would be no lay offs like other airlines in India. The airlines also mentioned that the "flying crew will be paid according to the actual number of hours flown."

The decision was taken in a meeting of the Air India board and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the airline informed via its official twitter handle. Air India also said that that basic pay, dearness allowance (DA) and house rent allowance (HRA) will not be reduced for any category of employees.

However, some "rationalisation of allowances" have been implemented, Air India said. They further added that it will be reviewed once the airline's financial position improves.

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As per the order, 11 types of allowances - including flying allowance, special pay, wide-body allowance, domestic layover allowance and executive flying allowance - for pilots would stand reduced by 40 per cent. The order mentioned flying allowance would be paid on actual hours flown by an individual pilot in a month.

For "general category officers", all other allowances would be reduced by 50%, said an internal order. "General category staff" and "operators" would get all other allowances decreased by 30%, the order mentioned. Cabin crew members would see their all other allowances like check allowance, flying allowance and quick return allowance reduced by 20%, the order said.

On July 14, Air India asked its departments' heads and regional directors to identify employees, based on various factors like efficiency, health and redundancy, who will be sent on compulsory leave-without-pay (LWP) for up to five years. Moreover, it said employees can voluntarily opt for the LWP scheme too.

The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Several airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, LWP and firing of employees in order to conserve cash.

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