Indian airline IndiGo is cutting 10% of its workforce due to the pandemic-induced industry downturn, saying cost cutting has been insufficient to prevent a company wide contraction. “It is impossible for our company to fly though this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations,” IndiGo says in a 20 July statement. “After carefully assessing and reviewing all possible scenarios, it is clear that we will need to bid a painful adieu to 10% of our workforce.” “It is for the first time in the history of IndiGo that we have undertaken such a painful measure,” the low-cost carrier adds, noting that just six months ago it was planning for expansion. “This pandemic has forced us to reevaluate our best laid plans.” The company’s statement does not specify employee numbers or say the degree to which different employee groups are affected. IndiGo will pay affected employees severance equal to one month for every year of employment, up to 12 months of pay. Cabin crew may receive “longevity” bonuses and the company will continue providing medical insurance for all affected staff until December 2020, it says. IndiGo had attempted to keep the downturn from affecting its employees, and therefore paid full salaries in March and April, it notes. The airline subsequently implemented pay cuts and subjected staff to unpaid leave. “These cost savings are clearly not enough to offset the decline in revenues,” it says. IndiGo’s fleet includes 233 in-service aircraft, including 25 ATR 72-600 turboprops and 208 Airbus A320-family jets. It also has 41 Airbus in storage.

Source: Cirium

Two US lawmakers have asked the Federal Aviation Administration for results of an employee survey about the regulator’s safety culture as part of its investigation into the design, development and certification of the troubled Boeing 737 Max aircraft. In a letter to FAA administrator Steve Dickson dated 20 July, lawmakers say the survey data and related analytical products – including presentations, memos, reports and statistical analyses – will help shed light on factors related to two crashes that killed 346 people, including eight American citizens. The crashes led to the Max’s grounding in March 2019. The lawmakers who requested the documents are chair of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio, and chair of aviation subcommittee Rick Larsen. In particular focus is the FAA’s Office of Aviation Safety (AVS) management of the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program, which allows aerospace manufacturers to perform some certification work on behalf of the agency in order to standardise processes and potentially save time. Critics have described the ODA process as being ripe for abuse, saying that companies can place undue pressure on employees assigned to ODA units. The representatives argue that issues surrounding the ODA “played key contributing roles” in the accidents. “We understand that the FAA recently completed its ‘2019 AVS Safety Culture Survey’ and that it intends to utilise the results of this survey to ‘more effectively implement a new voluntary safety reporting program for AVS employees,’ according to an e-mail announcing the survey that was sent to FAA employees,” the representatives write. “These are positive steps. But the results must be thoroughly analysed and properly implemented.” The House committee has already held five hearings and interviewed more than a dozen witnesses about factors that contributed to the crashes. In a preliminary report, released in March, the committee cited design failures related to the aircraft’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) as well as Boeing’s lack of transparency with aviation regulators as factors contributing to the crashes. A scathing report published on 1 July by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Inspector General found that Boeing purposefully held back information about the automated flight-control system on its re-engineered 737 Max during the aircraft’s certification process, thus significantly downplaying the risk that it posed. DeFazio and Larsen have given the FAA until 28 July to comply with their request.

Source: Cirium

Icelandair Group has reversed an extraordinary decision to dismiss all its cabin crew, after a swift resumption of negotiations resulted in another tentative collective bargaining agreement. The operator’s mass sacking of its flight attendants, which would have involved replacing them with pilots from 20 July, had initially spurred a strike threat from cabin crew union FFI. But the clash appears to have spurred a rethink on both sides, because the airline says they managed to restart discussions and have quickly reached another provisional collective agreement. Icelandair Group says this revised deal is “based on the same principles” as the previous one, whose rejection had prompted the airline to dismiss its entire cabin crew corps – all of whom are FFI members – and start seeking an alternative. The new agreement, which would be valid until the end of September 2025, still needs to be ratified by the flight attendants. This vote is likely to conclude on 27 July. Icelandair Group says the pact “meets the set objectives” of increased productivity and flexibility, while ensuring “competitive compensation” for cabin crew. It had said the same for the rejected deal, and the company has not specifically detailed the new agreement or any changes from the previous one, simply stating: “The current agreement results in further reduction in operating cost without negatively affecting the employee terms of cabin crew members.” But crucially, the airline says it will not resort to using pilots to take over from cabin crew and adds that the “most recent” cabin crew lay-offs will be “withdrawn”. FFI has yet to respond publicly to the developments. Cabin crew had held out against reaching a new collective agreement, after Icelandair sealed revised deals with its pilots and aircraft mechanics. The airline had been seeking to relax duty-time clauses and secure flexibility to allow it to operate new routes to the western USA and southern Europe. Agreements with its personnel representatives are an important part of a strategy to underpin Icelandair Group’s liquidity, which includes a new share offering.

Source: Cirium