When the pandemic struck the world, strict lockdowns followed. And what followed was the nosedive of the transportation industry. Various Airlines tried to adapt to the situation in their own way. And even after the second wave of the pandemic, the industry is still reeling under a lot of pressure as the business is far from normal.
No plan to lay off as IndiGo expects business to get back to normal by 2022
“We have recovered 60-70% now from the peak of Feb 2021, I am very bullish on how quickly the recovery can happen, expect by 2022 we will be back to pre-Covid levels…as covid declines we see traffic coming back fast, international is a bit of a question mark”, said Ronojoy Dutta, IndiGo CEO.
In the current troubled times, he emphasized clear communication with all the stakeholders. He also talked about keeping employees together, stating, “We have no plan to lay off employees”. The company is expecting to drop without pay leaves in the next month and is preparing to get back to the normal pay structure of the employees at the earliest.
The government has recently hiked cabin capacity from 50% to 65%. Mr. Dutta believes that for the benefit of the economy and the country, the capacity needs to be improved. He said the path to recovery is reduced cost and improved capacity.
When enquired about Business travel, Mr. Dutta said, pre-Covid, 20% of the revenue used to get generated from business travel. During the slump because of the pandemic, at the lowest, it was 8%. Currently, it is contributing 10-11%. He believes that this segment will pick up slowly.
Looking out for a bright future
Mr. Dutta believes that the third wave is inevitable and the only way to be prepared for it through vaccinations. Currently IndiGo has vaccinated 91% of its employees. Mr. Ronojoy Dutta is also keen on looking beyond the pandemic. As only 10 % of the Indian population has been touched by air travel, there is huge scope for growth in this segment.
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