IndiGo flights not to offer meal service, fill only 50 pct airport buses post lockdown

IndiGo will remove its meal service and fill only 50 pct airport buses post lockdown in a bid to recover from losses caused during the ongoing crisis. IndiGO CEO Ronojoy Dutta has said the airline will not serve meals in the flights for sometime and is also reducing the airport bus service to half the capacity as it will fill only 50% seats, PTI reported.

With all planes grounded till at least April 14, all the airlines are facing major losses and have been forced to take serious steps. IndiGo has announced salary cut for its top management with Dutta himself taking 25 per cent lesser salary this month. 

“With the precipitous drop in revenues, the very survival of the airline industry is now at stake,” Ronojoy Dutta said in an email to the IndiGo employees in March. 

Another airline to announce salary cuts for its employees is SpiceJet. The airline announced pay cuts for its staff to the tune of 10-30%. CMD Ajay Singh also took a 30% pay cut in salary for March.

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Meanwhile, aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday issued guidelines for the storage and subsequent return to service of airlines. 

"Some aircraft manufacturers have recommended storage programs. An operator may use these recommendations while developing their own specific storage program," the DGCA circular noted, adding that each company's storage program must be approved by the regulator.

"Depending on the level of preservation, intended length of storage, and the security of the aircraft, the operator should consider removing the C of A (certificate of airworthiness), the C of R (certificate of registration) and other documents on board, from stored aircraft of safekeeping," the circular added.

The country is on a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for this time period.