Coronavirus Impact: GoAir Terminates Contracts of Expat Pilots Post Int’l Flight Ban

A day after briefly suspending worldwide operations on account of coronavirus and the resultant journey restrictions, GoAir mentioned right here on Wednesday it had terminated contracts of expatriate pilots. The transfer was consistent with the lowered worldwide capability, it mentioned. “In view of the current situation, GoAir has been forced to terminate contracts of expat pilots, which is in line with the reduced international capacity,” a GoAir spokesperson mentioned.

On Tuesday, the airline had suspended worldwide operations until April 15. The airline flew to Dammam, Kuwait City, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bangkok, Phuket and Male. Many nations have issued journey bans to curb the outbreak. India has briefly banned all passengers coming from a bunch of nations and vice-versa.

The passengers from the EU, European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the UK have been prohibited from getting into India both via land, air or seaports. Further, it has been determined to place all passengers coming from the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait in 14-day obligatory isolation, beginning Wednesday on the port of first departure.

Besides, the airline has initiated a short-term rotational go away with out pay programme that “will not only help the company counter the short-term reduction in capacity, but will also ensure that a cross-section of employees stay away from the workplace for a month at a time to ensure business continuity.”

“Knowing that this will put a financial burden on the affected employees and having studied what companies have done in other countries to help guide our plans, this decision was not taken lightly,” the airline had mentioned on Tuesday.

Airlines internationally have taken drastic measures to deal with this extraordinary scenario, with some studies exhibiting that the world’s main airways are decreasing 50-90 per cent flight capability in April and May. “No sooner the situation improves, GoAir will restart these flights and operate at the earliest opportunity,” the spokesperson mentioned.