GoAir offers to fly migrant workers to home states during lockdown

Mumbai: No-frills carrier GoAir on Saturday evinced interest in flying thousands of stranded migrant workers in various states to the airports closer to their homes amid the lockdown across the country, and said it has approached the government on this issue.

With both passenger train and flight services shut till April 14 and no source of income due to the closure of all businesses, these migrant workers are stuck in major cities and looking for means to reach their native places. Some of whom have been forced to even walk to their home towns and villages regardless of the distance.

Due to suspension of air services, the aircraft of all domestic airlines are grounded.

India's millions of migrant workers are the most affected sections of our society during the ongoing 21-day lockdown in view of Covid-19, the airline said.

"In response to their plight and after seeing scenes of workers trying to walk hundreds of kilometres home with their families, including children, GoAir has reached out to the civil aviation ministry and offered its services to fly these workers and their families to the airports closest to their homes," the airline said.
28/03/20 PTI/Times of India

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After IndiGo, GoAir, Vistara airlines cuts pay by about 10%

New Delhi: After IndiGo and GoAir, Vistara has also cut employee pay by about 10% to survive the severe turbulence caused by coronavirus. The Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines JV is also asking its staff to take leave without pay for varying periods till April 15, when domestic and international flights may resume in India unless that date is extended again to control the spread of the pandemic.
While we are doing all possible including a recruitment freeze, we have to look at other means to further reduce our cost. Therefore, for the period April 1-14, 2020, all staff (except some) will be required to go on a few days (ranging from one to 3) of compulsory no pay leave (CNPL)…. annual salary increment exercise in every April for all eligible staff will be deferred to July 1, 2020, and an appropriate decision shall be taken then. For staff in Level 2 and above, the annual pay-out for variable performance pay will be deferred to July 2020,” Vistara CEO Leslie Thng said in a mail to employees.
Accepting the financial implications of these moves on employees, Thng has termed the corona-caused impact as unprecedented in terms of impact on “business and cash flow. Our main priority is to preserve job and maintain employment for everyone within the Vistara family.”
27/03/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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GoAir offers Central govt its aircraft, pilots, cabin crew & airport staff to carry out emergency services

Kolkata: Low cost airlines - GoAir - has offered the Indian government its aircraft, pilots, cabin crew and airport staff to carry out emergency services and repatriation of citizens GoAir has reached out to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA and offered its services in the wake of a complete lock down across the nation.
 The Wadia-Group controlled low cost carrier has offered its aircraft, pilots, cabin crew and airport staff to carry out emergency services and repatriation of citizens.
 The letter submitted to the ministry offers the following services: 1. Ship cargo on behalf of the government 2. Ship essential services such as medicines, food grains et al 3. Ship manpower who would carry out the emergency services: doctors, nurses, para medics, relief workers 4. Repatriate Indian citizens who are stuck overseas and bring them back home 5. Repatriate expats in our country back to their base countries 6. Repatriate Indian citizens within our various states and Union Territories.
  “GoAir has always maintained ‘nation before company’ approach and the airline is fully supportive of the initiatives announced by our Prime Minister. In fact, GoAir was the only airline to respond to Prime Minister’s clarion call to observe Janata Curfew and we suspended all our flights on Sunday 22nd March 2020. With our state-ofthe-art fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, GoAir is on stand-by for any flight that the government may want us to fly,” said GoAir managing director Jeh Wadia.
 27/03/20 UNI

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Go Air offers to carry out emergency services

New Delhi: In a noble initiative, Go Air has offered to “carry out emergency services and repatriation of citizens”. It has written a letter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) offering airline’s aircraft, cabin crew, airport staff, and pilots in the wake of 21-day ‘complete lockdown’ across India due to the Coronavirus COVID-19, the airline said in a statement.

In the letter, Go Air has mentioned services such as “Ship cargo on behalf of the government”, “Ship essential services such as medicines, food grains”, “Ship manpower who would carry out the emergency services: doctors, nurses, paramedics, relief workers”, “Repatriate Indian citizens who are stuck overseas and bring them back home”, “Repatriate ex-pats in our country back to their base countries”, and “Repatriate Indian citizens within our various states and Union Territories”.
Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said that the airline has always maintained ‘nation before company’ approach and the airline is fully supportive of the initiatives announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. In fact, GoAir responded to PM Modi’s ‘clarion call’ to observe ‘Janata Curfew’ and suspended all flights on Sunday, March 22, 2020. With the state-of-the-art fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, GoAir is on stand-by for any flight that the government may want it to fly, Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, said.
27/03/20 Debjit Sinha /Financial Express

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GoAir says all employees will have pay cut in March

New Delhi: As the coronavirus pandemic has drastically impacted revenues of the aviation sector, GoAir CEO Vinay Dube stated on Wednesday that all employees will be taking a pay cut in March.
During the last few weeks, GoAir has already taken some cost cutting measures — it has laid off its expat pilots, asked its employees to go on leave without pay on a rotational basis, and announced that its top leadership would be taking a pay cut of up to 50 per cent.

Dube told employees in an official communication, “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.”
India has banned international commercial passenger flights for a period of one week from Sunday. Moreover, domestic flights have also been suspended from Tuesday midnight.
25/03/20 PTI/Siasat

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GoAir is third airline to cut salaries, all staff to take hit

GoAir will cut salary of all its employees for month of March following grounding of all domestic flights in the country.

GoAir is the third airline to announce a pay cut after IndiGo and Air India which have slashed salaries to tide over Covid-19 crisis.

"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 lowest pay grades suffer the least," the airline's chief executive officer Vinay Dube wrote in an email today. The letter did not reveal the extent of pay cut for each category.

The pay cut comes even as domestic airlines seek urgent funding from government to pay 50 per cent of staff salaries for the next three months. Domestic flights were shut from midnight of March 24 and closure will remain in place till April 14.

The Wadia group airline had earlier implemented leave without pay for a section of its staff and fired foreign pilots to cut costs. Later the one month leave without pay was extended to Indian pilots under training or to those not released for active duties.

"In GoAir's 14-year history we have never cut employee salaries or deferred salary payments. When the tide turns once again -- and it will -- GoAir will find a way to compensate all of you for the sacrifice you are being asked to make at this juncture. Given the strong business fundamentals of GoAir, I believe that moment is not so far away," Dube said.
25/03/20 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Goair makes PNR valid for one year

Goair has introduced a flexible ‘year-long peace mind’ programme that will protect your PNR from the hassles of rescheduling and cancellation. The initiative is aimed at reducing human intervention as well as shift the entire process on auto-pilot amid the ongoing Covid-19 situation where travel has become difficult.

This offer will apply to all existing and new bookings made between March 1, 2020, and April 15, 2020. Under this, if a customer cannot or chooses not to travel they can simply not show up for the flight and Goair will protect the PNR for a period of one year.

The airline said in a statement, “customers who have booked any flight on any sector will be rest assured to not to initiate any rescheduling or cancellation and will be saved from the time-consuming and tedious efforts to call or email their request.”

The passenger can contact the low-cost carrier at any time over the next one year to redeem this ticket on any Goair flight on any date between April 15  2020, and April 15, 2021, with no charges being levied (Fare difference may be applicable).

Indigo too has announced that Booking Reference/PNR, will stay safe as a credit account in the same PNR with the same ticket value.
24/03/20 Business Traveller India

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With Planes Grounded, IndiGo, GoAir Pilots Take Pay-cut

The global onslaught of COVID-19 has cast a shadow on the future of the aviation industry with airlines both at home and abroad announcing pay-cuts and partially suspending services amid mass-scale travel ban in major aviation sectors. The situation for airlines has further turned grim after the Centre’s move to ban all domestic flights in the country from 25 March.

Faced with a sharp dip in air traffic, IndiGo – India’s largest and wealthiest private carrier – prior to the suspension of all domestic flight operations said it will bring into effect a salary-cut of up to 25 percent for its staff.
According to a report in The Economic Times, the no-frills carrier’s CEO Ronojoy Dutta in an e-mail said that senior vice presidents and other executives would face a pay-cut of 20 percent from 1 April, while vice presidents and pilots would be paid 15 percent lesser.
According to the report, while cabin crews employed by the airline would face a five to ten percent pay-cut, Dutta himself has said he would take 25 percent lesser. Aware of how a pay-cut can impact the lives of employees, Dutta, in the letter stated that ‘it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without all of us making some sacrifices.”
Reacting to the ban on domestic flights, aviation expert Jindendra Bhargava said that although airlines, like many other industries, will suffer, the larger point here is to break the chain of transmission.

“No lockdown can be successful if flights are operational. We can’t overlook the major objective, which is containing the coronavirus,” he said.

But expecting airlines to pay full salaries is not advisable as it will only burden its already strained finances. However, he added that “the government and the airlines must come together to ensure that employees have enough to sustain themselves.”
24/03/20 Anthony Rozario/Quint

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GoAir announces 50% salary cut for top management

Just days after announcing suspension of its international operations, GoAir has joined IndiGo and Air India to cut salaries in order to tide over the Coronavirus pandemic.
Airline CEO Vinay Dube, in a message to its employees, said the top leadership  has voluntarily decided to take a 50 percent pay cut with immediate effect.
Dube, who mailed employees on March 21, said the measure is temporary.
Apart from reducing salaries and suspending international operations, the Wadia family-owned airline has also terminated contracts of its expat pilots, and put about one-third of its employees on leave without day.
22/03/20 moneycontrol.com

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GoAir, Indigo and Vistara airlines to limit Domestic Operations on March 22

New Delhi:  GoAir, IndiGo and Vistara airlines have limited their domestic operations on March 22, the day of ‘Janata Curfew’

IndiGo has said that it will operate 60 per cent of its domestic flights on Sunday. GoAir will be suspending its domestic operations for that day.

Spicejet has cancelled all four flights namely two Kolkata-Dibrugarh-Guwahati flights and two Guwahati-Dibrugarh-Kolkata flights from March 24- March 30.

Meanwhile, Government of India has informed that no scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22, 2020 for one week.

In wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has also affected India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the people of the country to opt for a ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday from 7 am to 9 pm.

In a special live address to the nation, Modi said: “Today I am requesting the people of the country for a Janata Curfew, on March 22, this Sunday, from between 7 am to 9 pm… This is public curfew. ‘Janata Curfew’ means for the public, curfew imposed on public by themselves.”
21/03/20 Sentinel

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IndiGo, GoAir to cancel close to 1,000 flights on Sunday

Mumbai: Low fare carriers IndiGo and GoAir will together cancel close to 1,000 domestic flights during the Janta Curfew Sunday, both said without giving any assurance of a refund to affected passengers.
GoAir said it will cancel all its domestic operations, usually constituting 330 flights, on Sunday. The country's biggest carrier IndiGo separately said it will operate only 60% of its domestic schedule of about 1,400 local flights on Sunday and going forward trim it by 25%. To be sure, both have already clubbed and cancelled some domestic flights in the last few weeks.
GoAir said it was "responding to the clarion call" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Thursday urged citizens to adhere to a self-imposed curfew on Sunday, restricting movements and gatherings to a bare minimum to fight the spread of the Coronavirus.
Officials at the ministry of civil aviation had however said domestic flights would continue.
GoAir said passengers' PNRs will be protected and can be redeemed any time of the year free of extra charges. Neither GoAir nor IndiGo said that affected passengers would be refunded.
In its statement, IndiGo, which flies almost half of India's local fliers, said it would trim 40% of its domestic schedule on Sunday "in order to accommodate those with urgent travel requirements on that day".
21/03/20 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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GoAir Suspends All Flights On March 22, Indigo Trims Operations In support Of 'Janata Curfew'

Commercial airline GoAir has announced that it will voluntarily suspend all flights on Sunday, in support of the 'Janata Curfew' proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a measure to check the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement, GoAir said, "Goa Air is responding to the clarion call given by the Prime Minister of India to lead the nation in stemming the spread of coronavirus. GoAir will voluntarily suspend all flights on Sunday, March 22, in support of the Janata Curfew proposed by the Prime Minister."

"GoAir will protect all the PNRs dated March 22, 2020 in view of the Janata Curfew for a period of one year under the "Protect Your PNR" scheme.

Passengers can contact GoAir at any time over the next one year to redeem their ticket on ANY GoAir flight on any date with no charges being levied, the statement said.

Meanwhile, IndiGo airlines has reduced its domestic schedule to match market demand over the next few weeks. It said the services are being maintained to cater to those with urgent travel requirements.
21/03/20 Business World,

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Former Vistara executive Sanjiv Kapoor joins GoAir in advisory role

Mumbai: Sanjiv Kapoor, a former senior executive at Vistara is joining low fare carrier GoAir in an advisory role.
Kapoor was earlier the chief strategy and commercial officer at Vistara and before that, the chief operating officer at GoAir’s rival budget airline SpiceJet.
Kapoor joins the Wadia group owned airline at a time when the aviation industries in India and the world are struggling in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis which has all but wiped off air travel from the skies.The airline has offered a rotational leave without pay to its employees and is terminating the contracts of expatriate pilots.
20/03/20 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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GoAir partners with mfine to offer free consultation on COVID-19

Mumbai: Airlines major GoAir has been taking multiple steps to ensure the safety of passengers in the wake of the COVID-19 situation.
Further extending its support, the airline has partnered with mfine, an on-demand healthcare platform that offers free COVID-19 consultation to customers from the comfort of their home and office or even while they are on the go. GoAir customers can avail the exclusive consultation on mfine by using the promo code available on www.goair.in.
GoAir’s customer care centers have been receiving daily queries related to not just travel in times of Coronavirus, but also advice on health or medical help. Therefore to address the situation, GoAir has tied up with mfine for cases wherein customers have any queries or symptoms of cold and flu, they can get the symptoms assessed by a doctor, live online and get guidance for further steps immediately.
Passengers across any age group or gender, with queries about before or after flight travel or any query about the COVID-19 situation can connect with medical experts and doctors from across the country free of cost. In such times where misleading and vague information is so rampant, GoAir with mfine is assuring customers of authentic and curated medical information.
20/03/20 India Blooms

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GoAir suspends flights to few NE states for 28 days

Guwahati/Aizawl/Agartala: Budget carrier GoAir has suspended its operations for 28 days in some northeastern states in view of coronavirus scare and ensuing travel restrictions, officials said on Wednesday.

The airline has suspended operation for 28 days effective Thursday (March 19) on the Aizawl-Kolkata-Guwahati-Imphal route as a preventive measure, Mizoram government's principal consultant for civil aviation, Wing Commander J. Lalhmingliana, told the media in Aizawl.

"The proposed flight between Delhi and Aizawl, which was announced to be introduced by the GoAir authority from March 29, has been put off and would be re-scheduled once the situation is normal," the official said in Aizawl.

He said that the state government has not yet received any communication from the authorities of Air India and IndiGo, which also operate flights from Aizawl, about possible suspension of operations.

GoAir, which operates flights to Dammam, Kuwait, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bangkok, Phuket and Male, has suspended all its international operations from Tuesday till April 15.
18/03/20 IANS/Morung Express

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GoAir flights to continue the flight service in Mizoram

Aizawl: Mumbai-based low-cost airline GoAir on Wednesday reversed its decision to suspend all flights to Mizoram, official sources said.
A press release issued by the state information and public relations department on Wednesday said the airline had withdrawn its decision and decided to continue with the flight service following numerous public appeals.
The airline will continue its operation on the Calcutta-Guwahati-Aizawl sector, the release said.
On Tuesday, GoAir had announced that it had suspended all flights to Mizoram from Thursday till April 15 in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. The airline had also postponed direct flight between Aizawl and Delhi, which was scheduled for March 29.
State principal consultant for civil aviation, Wing Commander J. Lalhmingliana told The Telegraph that GoAir had backtracked from its earlier decision due to pressure from public who complained that the abrupt suspension would create inconvenience as they had already booked tickets.
19/03/20 Henry L. Khojol/Telegraph

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After GoAir fires expat pilots, IndiGo warns of tough decisions

The economic environment in the aviation sector has deteriorated significantly and it has become necessary to initiate some tough decisions over the next few days and weeks, IndiGo's flight operations chief Ashim Mitra told pilots in an email on Thursday morning.

With countries sealing their borders partially or fully across the world due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the aviation sector has been hit extremely hard as most airlines globally have drastically curtailed their flight operations.

Mitra stated in his email, "Economic environment has deteriorated significantly and no airline is insulated from this severe downturn."


"It has become a necessity to initiate some tough calls and we are working on a string of measures that will be shared and implemented over the next few days and weeks," Mitra said.

Asking the pilots to not believe any hearsay, Mitra added that the airline will keep them updated.

"Please keep taking all the precautions against COVID-19 and we shall overcome any challenge...," he said.
19/03/20 PTI/The Week

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GoAir Terminates Contracts of Expat Pilots Post Int'l Flight Ban

A day after temporarily suspending international operations due to coronavirus and the consequent travel restrictions, GoAir said here on Wednesday it had terminated contracts of expatriate pilots. The move was in line with the reduced international capacity, it said. "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 said.

On Tuesday, the airline had suspended international operations till April 15. The airline flew to Dammam, Kuwait City, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bangkok, Phuket and Male. Many countries have issued travel bans to curb the outbreak. India has temporarily banned all passengers coming from a host of countries and vice-versa.

The passengers from the EU, European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the UK have been prohibited from entering India either through land, air or seaports. Further, it has been decided to put all passengers coming from the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait in 14-day compulsory isolation, starting Wednesday at the port of first departure.

Besides, the airline has initiated a short-term rotational leave without 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."
19/03/20 News18.com

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IndiGo waives extra hours benefits to pilots, GoAir asks staff to go on unpaid leave

Faced with a dramatic slump in demand, domestic airlines IndiGo and GoAir have taken steps to cut down manpower costs.

IndiGo has told pilots that they may no longer be required to do extra hours, and the airline is withdrawing the incentive of giving compensation in lieu of leave.
"Buying of leaves has stopped. This was earlier done to incentivise pilots to fly more to cover for rapid expansion," a source told Moneycontrol.

IndiGo had recently communicated the same to its Indian and the expat pilots on the A320 fleet.

"Due to the ongoing threat of COVID 19 and various visa restrictions being placed, there is a likelihood of curtailment of our schedule. As a consequence, we will no longer be in need of extra availability in the coming months. Therefore, Admin Notice 36 E (Compensation in lieu of leave) is being withdrawn with immediate effect," the airline told its pilots.

Moneycontrol has sought a response from the airline and will update the story as soon as it gets one.

IndiGo's peer GoAir has asked some of its employees to go on unpaid leave, to save on costs.  "GoAir has also initiated a short term and temporary rotational leave without pay program," the airline said.

"That will not only help the company counter the short term reduction in capacity, but will also ensure that a cross-section of our employees stays away from the workplace to ensure business continuity," said the company.
The spread of coronavirus has raised a serious question on the sustainability of aviation business. While over 6,000 people have died, more than 180,000 have been infected globally. In India, the numbers are three and 126, respectively.
18/03/20 Prince Mathews Thomas/Moneycontrol.com

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GoAir suspends international operations till April 15

New Delhi: In the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic, GoAir has suspended all its international operations till April 15.

This comes after the Centre temporarily banned all passengers coming from host of foreign countries and vice-versa.

It includes European Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Turkey and United Kingdom.

People from these places have been prohibited from entering India from any of the land/air/seaport immigration check posts.

The GoAir in a press note also claimed that the aviation industry has been one of the most affected as governments have issued far reaching travel advisories, special events have been postponed or called off, customers have curtailed their individual travel plans and businesses have restricted the movement of their employees.
18/03/20 ANI/Telangana Today

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