Flag carrier Air India has decided to shut down all the fresh bookings for now. No domestic or international booking can be made through the airline. The airline is waiting to hear from the government about how the aviation industry has to proceed post the lockdown period scheduled to end on April 14, 2020. The 21-day countrywide lockdown began on March 25, 2020, and it has resulted in heavy losses for all the airlines in India. This three-week lockdown is considered as one of the hardest times the aviation industry has to go through in history.
Airlines Free To Take Fresh Bookings On Their Will
On Thursday, Pradeep Singh Kharola, Civil Aviation Secretary, said that airlines are free to take fresh bookings on their will. But you can’t go with Air India fresh bookings since the airline has decided to take a step back for now. An Air India spokesperson said that the airline would take fresh bookings only after April 30, 2020. Till then there will be no commercial operations by the airline. It will be interesting to see how other airlines go ahead with taking fresh bookings since there is a strong possibility that the lockdown period may be extended even further.
Air India Pilot Union Unhappy With Airline’s Decision
Meanwhile, the Air India Pilot Union is not very happy with the way the airline is making decisions. Much recently, the airline announced that it is slashing down 10% of its employee's allowances. The union said that this move from Air India is against what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has requested businesses to do, which is not cut down on their salaries or allowances. The Air India Pilot Union has noted that there are unequal cuts as the high-level management employees don’t have a very high allowance anyway.