Coronavirus In India: Air India Suspends Contract Of 200 Pilots Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Air India on Thursday tentatively suspended the contracts of around 200 pilots. These pilots were re-employed after their retirement, as all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended in the country till April 14 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official said.

Representational Picture (AFP)

New Delhi: The nation is under 21-day lockdown where social distancing is enforced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and flatten its growth curve. Consequently in this process, the economy has gone in complete bed rest which is resulting in the entrenchment of the country's economy. Air India on Thursday tentatively suspended the contracts of around 200 pilots. These pilots were re-employed after their retirement, as all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended in the country till April 14 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official said. The official further added, "Since almost all the planes have been grounded and the carrier's revenues have taken a significant fall during the last few weeks, the airline has decided to temporarily suspend the contract of around 200 pilots who were re-employed after their retirement". The national carrier has already cut the allowances of all employees, except the cabin crew, by 10 percent for the next three months to save money amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Air India on Tuesday operated five chartered flights to Frankfurt carrying foreign nationals, mostly Germans, who were stranded in the country due to the nationwide lockdown. The five flights were operated with Mumbai and Delhi as the two hubs. The novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic has spread across 180 countries. In India Coronavirus total count has crossed 2000 today with over 200 cases were reported across the country in the last 24 hours. The total number of Coronavirus cases in India has climbed to 2095. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 has also risen to 50.