Some employees have died from COVID-19, Air India said.
New Delhi:
Some Air India employees have died from COVID-19, according to an official circular from the airline, as it announced a fixed amount of compensation for the next family member.
However, the Air India spokesperson did not respond to questions from the PTI on the number of employees infected and died from coronavirus.
The internal circular dated July 20 noted that “many company employees are testing positive for COVID and some employees have also succumbed to the pandemic.”
“To safeguard the interests of families, it was decided to make an ad hoc payment to the family or to the legal heir of employees who died during the period of COVID-19”, the circular, a copy of which was consulted by PTI , said.
Families or legal heirs of permanent employees who die from COVID-19 will receive Rs 10 lakh, the amount is Rs 5 lakh for fixed-term employees and Rs 90,000 for casual employees who have worked continuously for a period of time. an, according to the circular.
If the worker was employed through a contractor or service provider, his family or legal heir would receive an amount equivalent to the two-month gross salary, he said.
He said the ad hoc payment circular will only be applicable for the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and will initially be in effect from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, subject to subsequent revision.
The coronavirus has infected 55 Air India pilots, two major airline pilot unions said last week in a letter to the carrier’s CMD Rajiv Bansal.
Air India has a debt of around Rs 70,000 crore and the government began the process of selling it to a private entity in January. The national carrier’s net loss in 2018-2019 was around Rs 8,500 crore.
The airline issued an internal decree on July 14 asking its department heads and regional directors to identify employees, based on various factors such as efficiency, health and dismissal, who will be sent on compulsory leave without balance (LWP) for a maximum period of five years. In addition, he said that employees can also volunteer for the LWP program.
The aviation industry has been significantly impacted due to travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries due to the coronavirus pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, LWPs, and employee layoffs in order to conserve cash flow.
