SpiceJet has asked about 80 of its pilots to go on a three-month leave without pay. The move is a temporary measure to rationalise cost, the airline said. “This measure, which is in line with SpiceJet’s policy of not retrenching any employee which the airline steadfastly followed even during the peak of the Covid pandemic, will help rationalise the pilot strength vis-à-vis the aircraft fleet,” the budget carrier said in a statement.
The affected pilots are from the airline’s Boeing and Bombardier fleets. Sources said the carrier had continued to recruit pilots during the Covid-19 period and thereafter, even when the sector and the airline’s finances were in a bad shape. It did not carry out any retrenchment.
In June, the airline in a regulatory filing stated it had 650 pilots trained on the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The employee cost was Rs 216 crore in the June quarter of FY23 compared with Rs 165 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal and Rs 172 crore in the June quarter of FY20.
