Airline staff battle challenges of pay cuts, lost accommodations

While many of them resumed work during the pandemic and continued to risk their lives every day, they did not have any assurance on the employment as layoffs and more than 50 per cent salary cuts have become common in the aviation industry.

Piyush Kumar, a customer service Officer with a domestic airline in the city said that he has to come in contact with about 1,000 passengers daily at a time when everyone else stays home and wanted to travel to their native places. “We were asked to resume duty even as the cases of COVID kept increasing. Our airlines brought six new aircraft during the same time and thus, layoffs came as a surprise to us. Though we were alerted only on the pay cuts, layoffs were sudden. I could not tell my relatives and friends about losing the job and had to leave the city to get back to my hometown in Rajkot, Gujarat. I was suddenly jobless and did not have any accommodation also. Many of us do not have any other sources of income,” said Piyush.

The fear of contracting COVID-19 and social stigma surrounding the same has become a distinct challenge for the airline staff. The job requires them to interact with strangers on a daily basis, but many of their house owners asked them to look for other accommodations to prevent infection. Many others, who had to move to other cities amid the pandemic, could not find a place to live for the same reason.

Zunera Zari, a senior cabin crew with Trujet Airways was working in Hyderabad and was asked to shift to Chennai as her base was being shifted amid lockdown and restrictions on air travel in the country. Zunera had to find accommodation in a new city within a week’s time and the airline had provided accommodation in a hotel for the time being.

“I could not find accommodation soon and it was difficult to find a house because people asked for a huge deposit amount. Another factor was that people feared giving the house to cabin crew because they knew that I have to travel often and would come in contact with passengers from different States. It is exhausting mentally to remain under constant risk of contracting the virus. We are given PPE kits and all hygiene procedures are followed but we feel helpless when we are unable to help passengers, even elderly,” said Zunera.

As per the safety standards and quarantine protocols, the cabin crew and other staff have to quarantine if a passenger tests positive for COVID-19. However, the employees do not receive any salary for the same period.

Kritika Raj (name changed) is a victim to the same issue. Kritika, an air hostess with one of the domestic airlines in the State had to stay in home isolation for 14 days after a passenger on her flight tested positive for COVID-19. “I could not resume work for another two weeks and had to lose more than 50 per cent of the salary. My house owner even asked me to vacate as I was in home isolation. I am from Delhi and had moved to Chennai only 10 months ago. It was difficult to find a place and convince people to let me stay,” said Kritika.