Vistara again sends senior employees on leave without pay for up to 3 days

Airline has to conserve cash during India's lockdown to contain the coronavirus, says airline CEO Leslie Thng.

Senior Vistara employees will go on compulsory leave without pay for up to three days between April 15 and April 30 to help save cash for the airline as it lies idle during India’s lockdown to contain the coronavirus, said CEO Leslie Thng on Wednesday.

The airline introduced on March 27compulsory leave without pay for up to three days between April 1 and April 14 for the same set of senior employees.

The compulsory no pay leave will affect around 1,200 employees in senior grades.

The remaining 2,800 employees of the airline such as members of cabin crew and ground handling services will be unaffected.

"With the announcement by the government of India on extending the lockdown, we continue to suspend all our domestic and international operations till 3rd May 2020 and this further impacted significantly on our cash flow with no revenue being generated over an extended period of time," Thng said in an email to employees, according to news agency PTI.

India’s suspension of domestic and international was extended till May 3 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the nation would stay indoors till that day.