At a working session of the Flight Crew Division 919, Vietnam Airlines’ union of pilots reported that the Covid-19 epidemic had caused many pilots to cut flight hours, leading to sharp income decreases.

The heads of the trade union have called on workers to share difficulties with the company.

The national flag air carrier has drawn up a plan on cutting the number of flying hours for Vietnamese and foreign pilots.

Vietnam Airlines has decided to adjust the numbers of flying hours and apply an alternative unpaid leave policy.

It plans to negotiate with manpower supply partners, calling on foreign pilots to accept unpaid leave for 15 days a month, i.e. 50 percent wage cut.

At a working session of the Flight Crew Division 919, Vietnam Airlines’ union of pilots reported that the Covid-19 epidemic had caused many pilots to cut flight hours, leading to sharp income decreases.

As for Vietnamese pilots, the carrier has decided to postpone the implementation of the wage reform plan, slated for June 2020.

The leaders of the flight crew division will also see their monthly salaries decrease by 15-20 percent. An unpaid leave policy will also be applied to non-pilot workers, under which they will have unpaid leave for no more than 15 days a month for three months, from March to May 2020. The income will decrease proportionally with the number of days off.

Vietnam Airlines said on average, each flight has 4 pilots joining the crew.

The latest report said the airline has 40 aircraft suspended. Therefore, nearly 200 pilots have become redundant.

Prior to that, at the meeting of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) which discussed the effects of Covid-19 on the airline’s production and business activities, Vietnam Airlines’ CEO Duong Tri Thanh said that the air carrier has ‘suffered heavily’ from the epidemic.

Thanh said the rapid spread of Covid-19 in non-Chinesecountries, especially in South Korea and Japan, has caused negative impact which went far beyond expectations.

Previously, Vietnam Airlines provided 12 flights a day to Busan and Seoul, but now provides only two flights. The wide-body Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 have been replaced with the narrow-body A321 because of the lower performance.

Regarding the European market, the Covid-19 outbreak in Italy has extinguished the airline’s glimmer of hope to enter the market.

“The SARS epidemic previously recovered in a V-shape with rapid decline in number of passengers and rapid recovery. In Covid-19, the recovery momentum will probably be a long U-shape,” Thanh said.

According to Thanh, a partner from Europe earlier this year planned to lease 10 aircraft but has canceled the plan after the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

Kim Chi 

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