IndiGo to Stop In-Flight Meal Service for Some Time, To Fill Only 50% Seats in Airport Buses Post Lockdown, Says CEO Ronojoy Dutta
In an email to IndiGo employees, Dutta said that the airline will stop the in-flight meal service for a brief period post lockdown, adding that the company has always been very safety conscious and now it plans to be health conscious.
New Delhi, April 10: Ronojoy Dutta, CEO of budget carrier IndiGo airline on Friday announced a post-lockdown plan on Friday and stated that the airline is looking at changing many of its operating procedures. In an email to IndiGo employees, Dutta said that the airline will stop the in-flight meal service for a brief period post lockdown, adding that the company has always been very safety conscious and now it plans to be health conscious. He added saying that once the coronavirus lockdown is over in India and commercial passenger flights are permitted again, IndiGo will fill only 50 percent seats in airport buses, thus maintaining the social distancing call.
India is currently under a 21-day lockdown after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a nationwide shutdown on March 24. Dutta informed the employees of the airline about the company’s ‘tentative plans for the immediate future’ in an email. "In situations like these, companies do not manage to growth or profitability but to liquidity. That means our singular focus is on cash flow. We are examining all our fixed costs and looking for ways to minimize them," he said. IndiGo Offers Govt Its Aircraft and Crew to Transport Medicine, Equipment Across Country Amid COVID-19 Pandemic.
According to a report by PTI, Dutta said IndiGo's plan post lockdown will be going forward to first start the services and gradually ramp up the capacity, adding that the new set of procedures have not been finalized yet. The email further quoted Dutta saying, "But we will deep clean our aircraft more frequently, we will be discontinue meal service for a brief period and we will run our coaches at a maximum load of 50% capacity. We will be coming out with the new set of operating procedures very soon".
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 10, 2020 01:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).