21,200 in domestic aviation lost jobs during pandemic: V K Singh

At least 21,200 people engaged by domestic airlines and ground-handling agencies in airports lost jobs due to Covid-19 induced disruptions, the government informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.

While domestic airlines and ground handling firms saw a decline, there was a marginal increase of 380 employees — from 9,550 in March 31, 2020 to 9,930 as on 31 March 31, 2021 in the cargo business in the aviation sector.

In a written reply to BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab's question, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen V K Singh (retd) said the total number of employees of domestic carriers has declined from around 74,800 to around 66,900 in the one year from March 31 last year.

The ground-handling sector saw a decline from 38,330 to 25,040 during this period, Singh said.

The civil aviation sector was badly hit by the lockdown, as all flight operations were suspended for several months from March 23 last year. The international services which were to resume on December 15 this year has been deferred following the spread of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.

Singh said some of the airlines had rationalised payment of allowances in the wake of the pandemic. He said Air India Ltd did not impose any salary cut for employees with a salary less than Rs 25,000.

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