Sky is Limited

Airlines have taken to the skies after two months. But their pain is far from over

- MANU KAUSHIK

There was a sense of self-assurance and desperation in his voice. When Business Today spoke to one of IndiGo’s pilots about his experience of flying during the Covid pandemic, he said much has changed in the aviation business since May 25, the day the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) allowed airlines to restart flights.

From the pilot’s perspective, the airline is flying a lot less passengers, and taxiing and take-off time has been substantially reduced, he said, on condition of anonymity. In addition, he doesn’t have to take a breathalyser test before every flight because of risk of spread of the virus. His savings have been hit as his salary has been slashed by 15 per cent but the 38-year-old pilot does not have any grudges. “I have operated just four flights since the reopening. The airline is doing its best to limit the risk of exposure. Load factors are low. But it’s good that we are flying again after sitting idle for two months,” he says, adding that his flight hours per month have gone down considerably – from 80 hours before to 15-20 hours now. He hopes that the salary cuts could be reversed if IndiGo could fly more. “A 15 per cent cut is manageable. It’s a question of overhead expenses. I don’t own a luxury car, nor am I paying EMI for a big apartment like some other pilots. For me, the salary cut has translated into lower savings,” he says.