Amid Covid-19: AI sacks 200 cabin crew on contract

MUMBAI: National carrier Air India has terminated 200 cabin crew members and refused to accept the withdrawal of resignations of 50 pilots, officials aware of the matter said.

The cabin crew members were contractual employees.

The officials said the 50 sought to withdraw their resignations after private airlines rescinded their jobs offers they had put in their papers for amid the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the aviation industry hard.

The airline refused to accept their requests and instead asked them to serve their notice periods.

The airline management and civil aviation ministry officials met the pilots on July 8.

Air India spokesperson refused to comment on the terminations, saying: “These are internal issues on which we won’t like to make any comment.”

A pilot said, “We knew about this step by the airline, and hence we had written to them and even discussed in the meeting that they should not lay off only the frontline warriors...”

A senior airline official said layoffs were bound to happen due to the current situation. “...the airline management was contemplating [this] since March. The appointing authority [heads of the departments] have failed to handle the situation and stand for the employees who are being asked to leave.”

A former Air India employee said only a few flights are operating due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this has made the situation worse. “The management should study the nonoperating and operating departments and should reduce the workforce accordingly since it is getting difficult for the airline to function as there is no money to run Air India.”

As of April 2020, the national carrier had around 4,000 cabin crew members and around 1,800 pilots.

THE NATIONAL CARRIER HAS ALSO REFUSED TO ACCEPT WITHDRAWAL OF RESIGNATION REQUESTS BY 50 PILOTS