Media: Russia’s Rossiya Airlines to lay off up to 100 Airbus pilots

Rossiya Airlines is planning to lay off about one-third of its Airbus pilots, almost 100 people, Kommersant reports, citing an airline document.

According to the business daily, an order regarding the company staff was published on 6 December, which says that the layoff is a necessary measure meant to avoid a mass retrenchment considering “emergency circumstances” that affect the air carrier. The layoff comes into force on 1 January and will last through 31 March.

“According to an airline source, ⅓ of the pilot staff of A319/320 will monthly be laid off temporarily and paid ⅔ of their salary. Other sources mention a weekly layoff for one-third of the pilots,” Kommersant writes.

The airline defended the decision, citing “insignificant drop in air travel demand”. A source in Rossiya Airlines also noted that “all pilots will be laid off on a rotating basis for several days a month”. At the same time, flight attendants will not be affected.

Oksana Vlasenko, head of a pilot trade union, believes that the layoff decision can be “discriminatory”. According to her, it only affects Airbus pilots even though “the flight times are similar or lower”.

In early December, William Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that the West should be gearing up to resume travel through the Russian airspace banned when the war in Ukraine broke out.

According to him, the ban led to planes overcrowding European skies. At the same time, Walsh stressed that the resumption of air travel across Russia should not be greenlit until Moscow ends its war in Ukraine.