Section of SpiceJet employees go on strike at Delhi airport over salaries, say sources

A section of SpiceJet employees went on strike at the Delhi airport on Monday over issues of reduced salary and its irregular disbursement, sources said. SpiceJet chairperson and managing director Ajay Singh had told PTI last month that employees are being paid their full salaries on time and all issues related to their pays have been resolved. On 3 September some employees, who work at the airline’s security department, had gone on strike over the same issues. They returned to work later during the day following talks with the airline’s management. On Monday, employees, most of whom work at the aircraft maintenance department, went on strike outside Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport, the sources said. The employees displayed banners having slogans such as “pay our deferred salary”, “normalise our salary” and “no pay, no work”, they said. Asked about the latest strike, a SpiceJet spokesperson said, “The issue with a few employees at the Delhi airport has been resolved and they have returned back to work.” “SpiceJet’s flight operations remain normal,” the spokesperson added. SpiceJet reported a net loss of Rs 934.8 crore and Rs 998.3 crore in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively. It had reported a net loss of Rs 729 crore for the quarter ending June 2021 as its flight operations were affected due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. On issues concerning salary payment, SpiceJet CMD had last month told PTI: “All salary issues have been resolved. Salaries are being paid on time and in full.” “You know, this issue, the media has been raising occasionally but every airline around the world has been challenged on salaries, on payments and so on. And all these issues have always been settled by negotiations,” he added.