IndiGo support staff on strike at Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport over salary issues

IndiGo passengers who booked flights to and from Varanasi could expect inordinate delays at the airport on Wednesday, with as many as 56 IndiGo employees working at the Varanasi Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport reportedly going on strike earlier in the day. The employees, all support staff, are on strike  over salary issues, according to The Times of India. IndiaGo had not released any statement on the issue when this report was published. Varanasi airport director told ANI that striking staff did not give any advance notice to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

We are facing problems at #Varanasi Airport in dealing with IndiGo passengers as the airline's support staff has suddenly called for a strike over salary issues. Indigo staff has not given notice to Airports Authority of India: Varanasi Airport Director pic.twitter.com/GmPgVcLOIj

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) April 4, 2018

On Tuesday, disinvestment-bound Air India (AI) too delayed payment of salaries for the month of March and is yet to intimate employees about reasons for the delay. The debt-laden carrier has over 21,000 employees, including more than 11,000 on permanent rolls. Generally, salaries are paid at the very end of  a month, and if there are bank holidays around those pay days, payments are made in advance. Sources at Air India told PTI that March salaries remain unpaid and that employees have not received any communication from the management as to when the salaries would be disbursed. On 28 March, Naresh Goyal-owned private carrier Jet Airways also deferred March salaries, for a section of its staffers, to 10 April, citing “circumstances beyond its control.” With inputs from agencies