DGCA Hopes 'Sick Leave Protest' At IndiGo, Go First Will End Soon

As maintenance technicians at IndiGo and Go First continue to remain on sick leave in protest against low salaries, aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday said it hopes the situation will improve soon. 

IndiGo said it is in process of addressing some of the issues related to employee remuneration and asserted that its flight operations continue to be normal.

In a statement on "sick leave protest," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said, "We are closely monitoring the situation. As of now, operations are normal. Hopefully, it will be resolved shortly."

IndiGo has started taking disciplinary action against the aircraft maintenance technicians who went on mass sick leave in the last six days protesting against low pay, sources said.

A significant section of Go First AMTs also went on sick leave during the past four days to protest against their low salaries.

In a statement on Wednesday, IndiGo said, “As a responsible employer, IndiGo is in constant dialogue with its employees to take care of any issues or grievances."

The aviation industry has undergone a difficult phase over the past 24-plus months, it noted. 

"As business recovers, we are in the process of addressing some of the issues related to employee remuneration. This is an ongoing activity and we will continue to take employee feedback in the process," it mentioned.

Meanwhile, IndiGo's operations continue to be normal, while it adds several new destinations to its network and looks forward to welcoming customers from across India and the world, the airline said.

Indian carriers, which were badly hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, had then cut salaries of their employees to save cash.

On July 2, around 55% of IndiGo's domestic flights were delayed as a significant number of its cabin crew members went on leave, with sources saying they reportedly went for an Air India recruitment drive.