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Indian airline IndiGo has become the latest airline to reveal just how tough the collapse in flight demand has been due to Covid-19.
The country’s largest airline said it will cut 10% of its staff while facing a drop in revenue.
Last month IndiGo said it would cut up to Rs 40 billion ($ 533 million; £ 420 million) in costs.
Airlines around the world have been hit hard by coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
In a letter to investors, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said: “It is impossible for our company to go through this economic storm without making some sacrifices to maintain our business operations.”
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The airline, which has been on the ground for several months when India imposed a strict lockout, employs about 24,000 people, which means there are about 2,400 jobs on the line.
According to the company’s own figures, it is the largest passenger airline in India with a market share of 48.9% as of March this year and has been profitable for 10 years in a row.
The latest announcement of airline job cuts comes as airlines around the world are expected to see their worst year on record.
Last month, a global aviation industry body warned that the drop in travel caused by the coronavirus will cause airline losses of more than $ 84 billion (£ 66 billion) this year.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has 290 member airlines, said revenue would drop to $ 419 billion, 50% less than last year.
Cost-saving measures related to the coronavirus have also led airlines to cut the planes they operate.
Last week, British Airways announced that it would withdraw its entire fleet of Boeing 747s, as it suffers from the sharp slowdown in travel.
BA, owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), said all the planes had been retired with immediate effect. The 747s represented about 10% of BA’s total fleet.
On Wednesday, Australia’s flagship airline Qantas the past 747 will leave Sydney as it heads to storage in California, ending a history of nearly five decades.
Qantas also said it will store its fleet of A380 super jumbos in the Mojave Desert until at least 2023 and that it will cut 6,000 jobs, while another 15,000 employees will remain unemployed until the end of this year.
Last week, the airline officially removed non-New Zealand international flights from its website until the end of March next year.
