Stir by GoFirst technicians spreads, 110 cabin crew also join them
The Hindu
Technicians at IndiGo also continue to be on mass sick leave since Friday
On day 3 of "mass sick leave" at GoFirst called by aircraft technicians, the protest has spread to atleast 14 stations. Nearly, 110 cabin crew have also reported sick.
GoFirst's technicians in Bengaluru, Pune, Port Blair, Kannur, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata have joined the protest. Sources say at most of these stations nearly 90% of technicians are part of the agitation, while in Kolkata nearly 50% have joined.
The stir started on Sunday evening, with technicians in Delhi staying away from work. On Monday, they were joined by technicians from Mumbai and Bengaluru as well as 70 cabin crew calling in sick, said sources. On Tuesday, 110 cabin crew reported sick, employee sources said.
The airline has, however, denied that cabin crew went on sick leave, too.
Their anger is over low salaries, particularly after being not paid for nearly 18 months by the airline. A technician earns a monthly salary of ₹19,403, and a senior technician earns ₹22,098.
"We were on leave without pay from March 2020 to November 2021. The airline would call a technician for seven days and make him carry out maintenance work because it wanted to cut its expenses on employees," said a technician at the airline who is also part of the agitation.