As Coronavirus Scare Grows, Airlines To Scale Down Ops,; IndiGo, Vistara Could Be 1st To Ground

If there is one sector that is the worst affected due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it is the travel and tourism industry. Across the world, the industry has suffered massive losses due to the cancellations and postponements of the package, which were already booked. Subsequently, air travel too has seen a slump.

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This has forced many airlines across the world from Cathay Pacific to United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways all have grounded a significant portion of their fleet and some even have asked their staff to take unpaid leaves. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways alone has made a ¡°significant¡± unaudited loss of more than $257 million in February alone because of widespread disruption from the coronavirus.

Now following the footsteps of international airlines, Indian carriers too are on the verge of grounding their fleet, if not fully, at least partially. According to aviation consultancy CAPA India, Indian carriers may need to ground as many as 150 aircraft due to the virus outbreak. As per reports, IndiGo and Vistara could be the first Indian airlines to do so.

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In an email to pilots on Thursday, IndiGo's flight operations chief Ashim Mitra said that the economic environment in the aviation sector has deteriorated significantly and it has become necessary to initiate some tough decisions over the next few days and weeks. "It has become a necessity to initiate some tough calls and we are working on a string of measures that will be shared and implemented over the next few days and weeks," Mitra said.

On Thursday, IndiGo also announced that it will cut salaries of senior employees. IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta, who will himself take a 25% cut in salary.

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Earlier, IndiGo had cancelled several flights to West Asia (Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi) from March 17 until the travel restrictions are lifted. The airline¡¯s flights from Chennai, Kolkata and two services from Mumbai to Dubai are cancelled. Flights from Lucknow, Hyderabad, Trivandrum to Sharjah; from Kochi, Kozhikode to Abu Dhabi are cancelled until March 28.

Another private carrier, GoAir has also stopped flying to all its international destinations till April 15. The company has also said that it will send a section of its employees on unpaid leave on a rotational basis to deal with the disruptions.

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Air India too has significantly scaled down its international operations, especially to the middle-east and to Europe including the UK. As far as other cost-cutting measures are covered, Air India has withdrawn executive entertainment allowance of executive pilots and reduced layover and subsistence allowances of the cabin crew.