IndiGo to remove leave without pay scheme from January as business improves

MUMBAI: IndiGo will remove its leave without pay scheme across all departments of employees as the airline has seen a marked improvement in business and sees higher revenue improvement in future.

“At this point of time, it looks like we are on a path to a graduated and measured recovery, and we are hopeful that the government will allow us to fly 100% of our domestic capacity by early next year,” said CEO Rono Dutta in a letter informing the airline’s employees about the removal of leave without pay scheme from January 1, 2021.

IndiGo had started the scheme in May.

“It is now time for us to rally together and ensure that we are profitable by the first half of next year,” he added.

IndiGo’s losses sequentially narrowed in the September quarter to Rs 1,195 crore from Rs 2,845 crore, as it operated more flights. Its finance chief Aditya Pande said the airline added Rs 3,000 crore as liquidity with several measures including saving on salary expenses.

“We are pleased that we are slowly but surely stair-stepping our way back to normal capacity. While we are very much focused on managing the crisis of the present, we are also reimagining the promise of the future,” Dutta had said then. “We are impatient for the arrival of the future."

He had added the airline was flying 60% of its total capacity, and aims to reach 80% by December.

“The outlook for international traffic continues to be challenging, and is a matter of some concern. While we are not yet out of the woods, we are certainly moving in the right direction,” said Dutta in his letter on Thursday.

“At the same time, we need to recognize that the last six months were genuinely unsettling, as we lost a large sum of money… Which means that we need to once again rise to the occasion to stabilize this ship quickly,” he added.