Indian Private Carrier IndiGo Cuts Staff Salaries Due to Coronavirus Outbreak

Impacted by Covid-19, India’s largest private sector budget carrier, IndiGo on Thursday announced that it will cut the salaries of its senior employees.

The airline's chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta, who will himself take a 25 percent salary cut, said on Thursday, “Senior vice presidents and above are taking a 20 percent cut, while vice presidents and cockpit crew are taking a 15 percent cut.”

The airline has cancelled its services from Delhi to Istanbul, and from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur beginning 18 March.

The airline has also suspended all flight operations to Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Hong Kong. Indigo has also cancelled Mumbai-Jeddah and Bangalore-Jeddah flights from March 29.

In a notice to the stock exchange on March 11, the airline said, “In January and February 2020, IndiGo experienced modest impact from the coronavirus. We have seen a 15-20 per cent decline in our daily bookings.”

On Tuesday, Indian budget carrier, GoAir put staff on unpaid leave, citing a reduction in capacity, having also suspended all its international operations until 15 April.

In India, a total of 166 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed, while the highest number of cases is in the state of Maharashtra.