IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, is having a hard time dealing with its disgruntled staff. After pilots and its cabin crew, technicians at the budget airline have now gone on mass leave, reportedly to protest poor increments.
“Some technicians did not report for night shift at Hyderabad on July 8. The airline is monitoring the situation in Hyderabad and Delhi closely. It says adequate measures have been put in place and that so far there are no delays or disruptions in flight schedules due to technician trouble,” The Times of India has reported, quoting unnamed sources.
IndiGo’s struggle with its staff
For quite some time now, IndiGo has battled staff discontent. On July 2, a considerable number of its pilots and cabin staff went on mass leave to appear in the walk-in interviews of the newly privatised Air India, the country’s former national carrier.
The incident reportedly impacted at least 55% of its operations, causing cancellations and delays of flights.
IndiGo described it as a “one-off” incident to the country’s aviation watchdog. However, days after the incident it rolled back covid-19 pay cuts to pacify its unhappy staff. The pre-pandemic allowances will be restored by July 31.
It isn’t only IndiGo, though.
Opportunity for new players
Another low-cost airline, Go First, is also reportedly facing trouble with technicians at some of its maintenance hubs in the country taking leave of absence, apparently protesting over low salaries.
The discontent among employees of multiple established domestic carriers has been brewing at a time when Indian aviation is preparing for some new launches and relaunches.
Akasa Air and Jet Airways are gearing up to take off. They have begun hiring trained staff across verticles. Air India, which was acquired by Tata Sons, is also hiring cabin staff and pilots.