IndiGo to shed 10% of its staff

Indian airline company IndiGo becomes the latest airliner to reveal how crucial it has been hit by the collapse in demand for flights because of Coronavirus.

They said it will lay off 10% of its employess as it grapples with a slump in revenues.

In June, IndiGo said it would reduce up to 40 billion rupees ($533m; £420m) in costs.

Airlines across the world have been hit hard by coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

In a letter to investors IndiGo’s chief executive Ronojoy Dutta said: “It is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations.”

IndiGo has been grounded for several months after imposing strict lockdown by India, has 24,000 staffs which means some 2,400 jobs are on the line.

As stated by company’s own figures, it is India’s largest passenger airline having 48.9% market shares as of March in 2020 and had been profitable for 10 years in a row.

The latest declaration on airline job cuts comes as carriers around the world are expected to see their worst year on record.

In June, a global aviation industry body warned that the slump in travel caused by the coronavirus will drive airline losses of more than $84bn (£66bn) in 2020.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has 290 member airlines, said revenues would drop to $419bn, down 50% compared to last year.

Coronavirus-related cost-saving measures have also led to airlines cutting the planes they operate.

IndiGo

Last week British Airways declared that it would retire its entire fleet of Boeing 747s as it suffers from the sharp travel downturn.

BA, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), said the planes had all been retired with immediate effect. The 747s represented about 10% of BA’s total fleet.

Tomottow, Australia’s flag carrier Qantas last 747 will leave Sydney as it heads for storage in California, ending an almost five decade-long history.

Qantas has also said it will store its fleet of A380 super jumbos in the Mojave desert until at least 2023 and is cutting 6,000 jobs, while another 15,000 staff will remain furloughed until the end of this year.

Last week, the airline officially removed international flights, other than New Zealand, from its website until the end of March next year.

This article has been posted by a News Hour Correspondent. For queries, please contact through [email protected]
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