NEW DELHI: The devastating impact coronavirus has had on airlines is now showing. IndiGo has reported a loss of Rs 870.8 crore in the January-March, 2020, quarter versus a profit of Rs 595.8 crore in same period last fiscal.
The pandemic-hit Q4 numbers saw the airline on Tuesday announce a loss of Rs 233.7 crore for FY 2019-20, versus a profit of Rs 157.2 crore in previous fiscal. “Closure of flight operations during national lockdown on account of COVID-19 significantly impacted revenue for the quarter,” the airline said in a statement.
While IndiGo with its cash reserve of almost 20,377 crore is better placed to brave the pandemic storm, many other near bankrupt Indian airlines are struggling to survive with no government support to the industry so far.
GoAir, for instance, has extended leave without pay for many of its employees till the month-end. The airline says since it is restarting a fraction of the domestic flights from June 1, it will be calling only about one-third of its employees to work while others will remain on LWP — something that has caused lot of heartburn among staffers.
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Air India is yet to pay flying allowance (that account for over 70% of total pay of crew members) for March, April and May to its crew apart from basic salary of May. SpiceJet also has significant pay dues to employees.
Meanwhile, IndiGo’s total income for the quarter ended March 2020 was Rs 8,634.6 crore, an increase of 4.5% over the same period last year. Total expenses for Q4 was Rs 9,924.4 crore, an increase of 30% over the same quarter last year.
IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said: “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity. At IndiGo, we are determined to emerge from this crisis stronger and more energised than ever. We are positioning ourselves to be a stronger brand, to have a more efficient fleet and a lower cost structure. We fully intend to deliver for India, the best air transportation system in the world.”
IndiGo, which had a fleet of 262 aircraft on March 31, 2020, said it is unable to give guidance on future capacity growth because of the “prevailing uncertainty due to pandemic.” The airline has about 700 Airbus A320neo family of planes on order.