India’s largest private airline, IndiGo, is laying off 10% of its workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta said. The airline’s domestic and international flight operations were suspended since March to prevent the virus spread. The civil aviation industry resumed the domestic flight operations after 2 months in a limited manner on May 25. Currently, the domestic airlines can operate with 45% capacity. Earlier, airlines were operated with only one-third of capacity when flights resumed. IndiGo said the airlines are flying only a small percentage of its full fleet of 250 airplanes. 

 IndiGo introduced a “6E care package” for the impacted employees 

 Under this initiative, the employees will be given “notice pay”, calculated based on gross salary, instead of serving notice applicable to them. They will also receive a severance pay which will be calculated as one month of CTC ( cost to company) for every completed year of service, subject to a maximum of 12 months, he stated. “At a minimum, an impacted employee will receive at least three months’ gross salary, including both the above payments,” the statement read.

 “This has been one of the toughest decisions that we have had to take and we are ensuring that the transition process for the impacted employees is carried out seamlessly, professionally; and with the utmost respect and compassion. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and sincere thanks to all our people who have stood by us through thick and thin; and we are confident that both individually as well as collectively, we will emerge stronger out of this crisis,” the note added.

 Indigo CEO Rononjoy Dutta in a mail to employees, said, “No option but to implement pay-cuts from the month of May. Have to implement limited, graded leave without pay program for May, June & July.”

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