GoAir has announced pay cuts for its employees as the aviation sector takes a major hit of the coronavirus outbreak. Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir today said that all its employees will have to bear a salary cut in March as the government cancels all domestic and international passenger flights. “Under the current conditions, we find ourselves in we are left with no choice but to extend salary cuts for all of us for the month of March. We will ensure that the lowest pay grades suffer the least,” Vinay Dube, CEO, GoAir said. Aviation is one of the industries which have borne most of the brunt of the coronavirus spread.
In the wake of the demand slump, GoAir has already laid off its expat pilots. Another budget airline IndiGo also announced a salary cut of up to 25% for its top management. On the other hand, national carrier Air India earlier said that due to “insurmountable dip” in revenues, it will cut allowances of all employees by 10% for the next three months. However, cabin crew will be exempted from this cut, the airline added. The global aviation industry is staring at $252 billion-loss of passenger revenue in 2020, which is about 44% lower than 2019 figures, according to airline body IATA. Another report had said that most of the airlines will be bankrupt by the May-end if the coronavirus situation persists.
Meanwhile, coronavirus cases have been on a spike even after various measures announced by the governments across the globe. In India, the cases have climbed over 500 with at least 11 deaths so far. In the view of the same, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed a 21-day lockdown on the entire nation as India races to contain the virus and avoid Italy and Iran like scenario.