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GoAir writes to staff about deferred salaries, says airline ‘left with no choice’
The Indian aviation sector has been badly-hit due to the global health crisis which has led to flights being grounded and all international and domestic travel being stalled amid a nationwide lockdown, which has been extended twice.
Low-cost private airline GoAir has no cash reserves to pay immediate salaries to all its employees, since the company has not yet got any relief from either the government or the country’s banking system, GoAir Chairman Nusli Wadia and MD Jeh Wadia said on Monday.
The Chairman and the Managing Director of GoAir wrote a joint letter to employees of the company indicating that there is “no inflow of cash” due to both domestic and international travel being suspended for over a month now to contain the spread of Covid-19.
They said that the company has been “left with no choice” but to pay the pending March salaries over March and April.
The Indian aviation sector has been badly-hit due to the global health crisis which has led to flights being grounded and all international and domestic travel being stalled amid a nationwide lockdown, which has been extended twice.
GoAir has managed to pay full salaries to 40 per cent of total employees (2,500), it said while the remaining employees are getting paid on a graded or deferred basis.
“With no inflow of cash, which we are now anticipating will continue through the end of May, a period of over 10 weeks, and with no support forthcoming yet from either the government or the banking system, we were left with no alternative but to make the unfortunate and sad decision to pay the March earned salaries over March and April,” the joint letter said.
“The limitations on our resources are not of our own making and the sacrifices we are imposing on you are sadly beyond our control,” the letter to the employees read.
The private airline, like many others, has been forced to send people on leave without pay due to the current crisis.
The letter also pointed out that GoAir’s board members, chairman and managing director were not drawing any remuneration.
“Our CEO has taken a 50 per cent pay cut and voluntarily deferred most of his balance compensation. The senior management, too, has taken substantial pay cuts and have also deferred a portion of the compensation,” it read.
The management top brass also mentioned how airlines in the United States, Europe, South/East Asia and the Middle East are getting significant support from their respective governments to tide them through this “unprecedented crisis”.
