A Study on Aviation Industry and Impact on HR

after COVID

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Submitted By

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Reg. No. XXXXXXXXXX

Under the guidance of

Dr. XXXXXXXXXX

(Associate Professor)

UNIVERSITY

2019-2020
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Project Report titled “A Study on Aviation Industry and Impact on
HR after COVID” submitted by me to the Department of Business Management, (Name of
University), is a bonafide work undertaken by me and it is not submitted to any other University
or Institution for the award of any degree diploma / certificate or published any time before.

Name:

Address:

Signature

[ii]
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Report title “A Study on Aviation Industry and Impact on HR
after COVID” submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of MBA programme of Department
of Business Management, (Name of University), was carried out by ……………………. under
my guidance. This has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of
any degree/diploma/certificate.

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[iii]
 ABSTRACT

Training is an integral part of the work situation and is closely related to the career and promotion
structure. So practical training could be taken as a beginning of a process of in doctrines into the
ways of a business organization and it is the first step which would be helpful in future prospect.
Training makes the concept clear and help in facing the actual situations.

I have done training in Marketing Management. During the training program, I got the opportunity
to learn valuable things regarding management. It was my fortune to get the training in a very
healthy atmosphere. The management of the company offered learning situation sufficient
facilities and training opportunities to fulfill the objectives of training.

The project assigned to me was A Study on Aviation Industry and Impact on HR after COVID.
In my project report I have studied the importance of stress management.

This Project has really exposed me to a far new world and I sincerely hope that, will find my study
equally valuable as found it in shaping my career.

[iv]
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

There are some of important people I want to thank, without whose assist, guidance,
encouragement, and assist this work might now not be possible. I might additionally like to present
my finest thanks to God who deserves the ultimate reward and credit for all true matters in my
lifestyles.

First and predominant, I need to thank (Guide Name), who has been my marketing consultant and
mentor all through my research. Without sir’s affected person grievance, chronic aid, powerful
coaching, and constant task and encouragement to offer my very quality efforts to my
undertakings, I would not have discovered what I had to nor been organized to finish this
dissertation and future paintings. Much of what I have learned about the craft of studies has come
from Sir, and I am for all time thankful for the opportunity to have studied underneath his steering.

I could now not have made it via this study without the help, encouragement, coaching, and
friendship of fellow students inside the software

[v]
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter No. Particulars Page No.

1 Introduction 1
2 Objectives of the Study 57
3 Review of Literature 59
4 Research Methodology 79
5 Data Analysis and Interpretation 82
6 Findings Suggestions and Conclusion 100
References 106
Questionnaire 111

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Particulars Page No.

1 Gender of the Respondents 82
2 Age group of the Respondents 83
3 Educational Qualification of the Respondents 84
4 Organisation of the Respondent 85
5 Industry Experience 86
6 Initiatives taken by the organisation for the well-being of the 87
employees.
7 Rate the level of maturity of your organisation’s infrastructure and 88
practices to support work from home for the employees.
8 The organisations are supporting the employees by providing laptops 89
with secured connection to ensure smooth remote working.
9 Organisations are taking measures to monitor employee well-being, 90
HR e-connect and Leadership call/connect.
10 Organisations have re-defined their communication strategy to 91
increase engagement of employees.
11 Organisations are redefining their talent strategies, with higher focus 92
been given to designing interventions to engage and retain critical,
high potential and essential workforce.
12 Companies have deferred or suspended their promotion schedule. 93
13 A downward trend on promotions numbers have been seen across all 94
job levels.
14 Organisations have opted for decreasing the salary increment budgets 95
after COVID.
15 If COVID-19 situation persists, organisations may defer, freeze or 96
suspend incentive payouts to support their overall finances.

[vii]
16 Organisations have deferred or suspended their hiring schedule at 97
different job levels.
17 Current crisis is pushing corporates to take the leap and switch to ‘e- 98
webinars’ and ‘e-learning’.
18 Organisations have modified their learning strategy to drive more 99
effective virtual working.

[viii]
 LIST OF FIGURES

Chart No. Particulars Page No.

1 Gender of the Respondents 82
2 Age group of the Respondents 83
3 Educational Qualification of the Respondents 84
4 Organisation of the Respondent 85
5 Industry Experience 86
6 Initiatives taken by the organisation for the well-being of the 87
employees.
7 Rate the level of maturity of your organisation’s infrastructure and 88
practices to support work from home for the employees.
8 The organisations are supporting the employees by providing laptops 89
with secured connection to ensure smooth remote working.
9 Organisations are taking measures to monitor employee well-being, 90
HR e-connect and Leadership call/connect.
10 Organisations have re-defined their communication strategy to 91
increase engagement of employees.
11 Organisations are redefining their talent strategies, with higher focus 92
been given to designing interventions to engage and retain critical,
high potential and essential workforce.
12 Companies have deferred or suspended their promotion schedule. 93
13 A downward trend on promotions numbers have been seen across all 94
job levels.
14 Organisations have opted for decreasing the salary increment budgets 95
after COVID.
15 If COVID-19 situation persists, organisations may defer, freeze or 96
suspend incentive payouts to support their overall finances.

[ix]
16 Organisations have deferred or suspended their hiring schedule at 97
different job levels.
17 Current crisis is pushing corporates to take the leap and switch to ‘e- 98
webinars’ and ‘e-learning’.
18 Organisations have modified their learning strategy to drive more 99
effective virtual working.

[x]
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Since the outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019, the CoVid-19 epidemic caused by the
novel coronavirus which is spreading increasingly and became a huge crisis across the globe,
deeply affects not only the public health but also the business world. There is no doubt that the
civil aviation sector is the most affected sector by the epidemic and hundreds of airlines have to
ground thousands of airplanes due to flight bans.

As a consequence of this crisis, that has not been faced before in the civil aviation history, losses
that are hard to recover have arisen already. According to IATA's data, loss of the sector was at
the level of 111 billion $ in February1 but this loss reached up to 252 billion $ in March2.
Considering the predictions that the effects of the epidemic will last months and perhaps years, the
loss to be faced with will be much higher than this figure.

The civil aviation sector will have to cope with legal disputes on top of financial problems increase
incrementally. Within this regard, although the governments subsidize their airline companies in
order to support civil aviation, numerous problems especially the fate of the agreements signed
between agents of the sector, status of the leased airplanes, are waited to be solved. These legal
issues will constitute a problem for airlines and other sector agents apart from financial difficulties.
It is possible to trichotomize the issues of the sector as issues with passengers, sector agents and
employees.

The issue of cancellation and reimbursement of tickets of the passenger are the leading legal
dispute to be faced with. Within this context, Regulation on the Rights of Passengers Traveling by
Airway (SHY-Yolcu) published on Official Gazette numbered 28131 and dated December
3rd,2011, is in force in Turkey. According to the Regulation, cancellation of the ticket and
reimbursement, changing the dates and re-issuance as an open ticket are offered to passengers by
Turkish airline companies. However, passengers cannot claim a flight cancellation compensation
as per article 6/4 of the Regulation due to the reason of cancellation is unexpected events. In
addition to that, European Commission published a guide on March 18th, 2020 in order to inform
and remind EU citizen passengers regarding their rights in the event of flight cancellation by
referring the Commission's Regulation (EC) NO 261/2004 numbered.
[1]
On the other hand, the Amendment on Regulation on the Rights of Passengers Traveling by Airway
(SHY-Yolcu) was published on Official Gazette dated March 25th, 2020 and numbered 31079 and
within the scope of the Amendment, national airline companies are held exempted from paying
compensation liability in Article 8, reimbursement and rerouting liabilities in Article 9 and
providing additional services in Article 10 in case of flight cancellation due to the Covid-19
epidemic from February 5th, 2020 until the two months after the cessation of the ban.

In accordance with the provisions of the same Regulation, passengers whose flight is cancelled are
granted the right to change the ticket, rebook the ticket for another available date depends on the
free seat status of airline companies or change it with an open-ticket. It is also stated that the
passengers shall refund their open-ticket prices which are not used within 2 months after the
cessation of the ban.

It is quite likely that airline companies may struggle against legal disputes regarding the
performing of agreements that are signed between airline companies and sector agents. In this
scenario, the most important agreements are aircraft leasing agreements and loan agreements. In
the event that airline companies' insurance agreements do not contain a force majeure close (covers
the epidemic situation or governmental decisions) in order to compensate for the loss, lots of
aircraft could not be operated and the airlines will not be succeeded to pay their contract prises or
credit debts. In these circumstances, airlines may demand price cut, moratorium or termination of
such contracts based on force majeure and hardship.

It is also important to mention problems related to human resource management for employers
whose operations are reduced or suspended and for this reason came up against the incalculable
loss. In this regard, employers tend to seek alternative solutions such as unpaid time off, holiday
with pay, hold over a salary, working from home before the termination of their employment as
the first choice. However, in the case that these alternative models cannot be applied or are not
considered sustainable by the companies, termination of the employment contract comes to the
agenda. We would like to emphasize that; Pursuant to the Labor Law No. 4857, in order for the
employer to terminate the employment contract for justifiable reasons, compelling reasons which
are required to suspend operations, such as quarantine must occur in the workplace for more than
a week. For this reason, decreasing incomes and capacity alone will not constitute a justified reason
to terminate the employment contract. Again, the Labor Law and Supreme Court made it possible

[2]
to delay the wages due to force majeure, but refusing to work due to delayed wage (despite the
presence of force majeure) by an employee was seen as an employee fault. This situation gives the
employer the right to terminate the employment contract immediately in accordance with article
25/2 / h of the Labor Law. The issue of the employer's decision to give unpaid time off is subjected
to the explicit or implicit consent of the employee.

In addition, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, short-term working fund conditions were facilitated by
adding a temporary article that is effective until June 30th, 2020 to the Unemployment Insurance
Law No. 4447. According to this; the working duration under the condition of being insured for at
least 600 days in the last three years, which is the application condition for short-term work, has
been reduced to 450 days, and the 120 days term for being in a service contract before the start of
the short-term work contract has been reduced to 60 days. In this case, airline companies may also
benefit from this provision as an employer.

As a result, the epidemic will cause the financial crisis and undoubtedly a wide variety of legal
disputes in our country and the international civil aviation sector. However, in these days when
the effects of the epidemic are felt, the support of states and international organizations will help
resolve many legal problems before they become conflicts.

According to the World Bank Organization, in 2018, around 4.2 billion passengers were carried
around all across the globe.

Factors that were driving the aviation industry before the COVID-19 pandemic include increasing
disposable income all across the globe, the introduction of low-fare airlines, increasing global
economic activities, new travel trends, and many more. Moreover, replacement of aging
commercial aircraft has also contributed significantly to the market growth.

The key factors affecting the aviation industry after the pandemic include the decline in tours and
travels as a large number of international as well as domestic flights are getting cancelled all across
the globe to curb the transmission of the virus. The government all across the globe are cancelling
the visa of foreign people and locking down affected area which is also one of the major reason
behind the slowing down of the aviation industry.

The global Aviation industry report is segmented into passenger airlines, cargo airlines, aircraft
manufacturing companies, airports managing companies, and catering & other service providing

[3]
companies. Out of which, passenger airline segment is expected to get affected most along with
catering & other service providing companies. Cancellation of airplane order may also be
witnessed in the near future by the airline companies affecting the airplane manufacturing
companies.

Effect of COVID-19 on the aviation industry can be observed in each region including North
America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. For instance, in the US, since the national
health emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most of the region is on complete lockdown,
which is in turn restricting the domestic travel in the country. Countries such
as Italy, France, Spain, and India are under complete lockdown and all kinds of flights are stooped
until further notice.

Key companies of the aviation industry that are getting affected globally include Qatar Airways,
Emirates, China Eastern Airlines, Lufthansa, Boeing, Airbus, American Airlines Group Inc., and
Delta Air Lines. For instance, Qatar Airways suspended all of its flights to and from Italy that was
one of the worst-hit countries by the pandemic of COVID-19. Additionally, the company has also
decided to scale back its operation which includes cutting flights and removing less economical
aircraft. Qatar Airways grounded all its ten A380 aircraft for until 31 of May 2020, as a
precautionary measure of COVID-19 outbreak.

Moreover, Emirates also halted most of its passenger operation as a result of the pandemic. Now,
airlines and airport managing companies are seeking bailout packages from the government. For
instance, airport managing companies in Europe are expected to incur a loss of $15.4 billion due
to pandemic. It is estimated that airports in Europe will receive 700 million fewer passengers
which are 28% less as expected earlier.

[4]
 WORK BEYOND COVID

The global pandemic from the spread of COVID-19 has created uncertainty for many as
quarantines, hospitalizations, and tragically, related-deaths continue to growth. Travel restrictions
have reduced the mobility of individuals across the globe and the associated negative impacts have
propagated to numerous industries. The transportation industry has been especially hard hit as air
travel continues to shrink due to flight cancellations and capacity reductions. The airline industry
has experienced a decrease in capacity of roughly 60–80% at major carriers (Josephs, 2020). As
demand wains, further reductions by airlines are on the horizon. The indefinite timeline for
removing social distancing and travel restrictions has increased uncertainty for the industry as a
whole. In the U.S., the government has passed a large stimulus bill to assist the crippled industry
(Gilbertson, 2020). Despite this stimulus to aid the wounded industry, the labor impacts of
COVID-19 in the industry following expiration of stimulus-imposed requirements remain to be
seen. This paper provides novel insight into the effects of uncertainty shocks to airline labor by
examining the historical relationship between the industry and uncertainty shocks such as
pandemics.

The interaction between pandemics and economic dynamics has been studied in theoretical
modelling by Eichenbaum et al. (2020). Their model suggests that containment policies that
promote reductions in consumption and work can reduce the number of deaths attributed to a
pandemic. These policies unfortunately negatively impact the economy and worsen the effects of
the subsequent recession. Another study, Barro et al. (2020), uses the Spanish flu and WWI deaths
as proxies to quantify the economic impacts a nation could expect during a pandemic. Their
analysis estimates that a nation on average will experience a 6% decline in consumption and an
8% decline in GDP. As the spread of COVID-19 continues, the expected decline in consumption
is being realized as jobless claims reach nearly 10 million in March 2020 (Wolfers, 2020). Barro
et al. (2020) also find increased stock market and interest rate volatility during these periods. Their
work implies that situations similar to the current COVID-19 panic can result in financial
conditions much like the Great Recession. Atkeson (2020) notes that models of the spread of
COVID-19 suggest that social distancing and the associated economic tradeoffs could last for
nearly 18 months. Additionally, McKibbin and Fernando (2020) use data from China to model the
potential impacts from the COVID-19 spread. They find rough estimates of a 1%–5% shock to

[5]
consumption, an equity risk premium shock of 1.07%–1.33%, and a labor supply shock of up to
1.4%.

The true economic and societal impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic are still materializing;
however, the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic is evident and increasing as nations attempt to
contain and mitigate the spread of the virus. Uncertainty is noted as a key driver in numerous
recessions and uncertainty related economic shocks can propagate over time (Caggiano et al.,
2014). These uncertainty shocks can be caused by many factors to include financial crises, terror-
related events, disease outbreaks, and natural disasters. The fluctuations in uncertainty create a
distorted view for individuals, businesses, and policymakers alike. Empirical economic research
has addressed the topic of uncertainty shocks with respect to macroeconomic conditions. An
increase in uncertainty tends to reduce real activity in an economy (Basu and Bundick, 2017). The
contraction in real macroeconomic activity is caused by precautionary savings by individuals and
businesses as well as the subsequent job losses. The Great Recession was driven by financial
uncertainty in the market even as policymakers reduced policy rates (Ludvigson et al., 2015). This
uncertainty overshadowed policymaker action given the constraints imposed by a federal funds
rate near 0% (Caggiano et al., 2017). The current state of the economy is also noted as a
determinant of the responsiveness of actors to uncertainty (Alessandri and Mumtaz, 2019). Gross
domestic product growth and globalization impact an economy's responsiveness to these
uncertainty shocks (Bloom, 2014). Globalization has created an interwoven system of economies
connected by the robust air transportation network (Mahutga et al., 2010).

The airline industry has been threatened by global crises throughout history. From the oil embargo,
airline deregulation, terrorist attacks, the industry has weathered many storms (Davies, 2016). The
survival of an airline during and after these downturns is often related to the airline's business
model. Franke and John (2011) note that the attacks on 9/11 caused a significant reduction in air
travel and airlines struggled to remain operational. As the spread of SARS followed these events,
demand only returned to pre-2001 levels in 2004 (Franke and John, 2011). During this period, low
cost carriers gained market share as major air carriers struggled to recover as pricing competition
increased (Tan, 2016). Rising fuel prices also hindered the recovery of the industry following 2001.
Major airlines adjusted capacity to compensate for this increased cost leaving lower cost airlines
opportunities to enter new markets (Sibdari et al., 2018). The Great Recession has further changed

[6]
the network and routing structure of airlines as they attempt to mitigate the impacts of the decline
in demand by cutting capacity (Pearce, 2012). Less noted in the literature are the industry
workforce changes due to these shocks. Following 9/11, airlines moved to restructure their
businesses to reduce both fixed and variable costs (von Nordenflycht and Gittell, 2013). These
efforts were marked by employee layoffs and renegotiation of labor contracts. Even as airline
demand was recovering, the industry was still plagued by continual job loss (Goodman, 2008).
Bankruptcies and mergers during this period furthered the workforce reductions and labor contract
renegotiations. The surviving employees were faced with wage and benefits cuts that varied
depending upon occupation and ranged from 9% to 50% (von Nordenflycht and Gittell, 2013). Air
travel demand levels returned to pre-recession levels within 18 months, signaling that even deep
crises eventually correct. The current COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the airline industry with
the uncertainty of reduced capacity, weak demand, and an indefinite return to pre-2020 levels. The
impact of the pandemic on the airlines is a continual source of debate for policymakers given the
large economic impact and importance of the industry; however, the discussion concerning the
post-stimulus airline labor impacts is typically an afterthought. This paper will add to the policy
discussions by providing extensive insight into the expected impact on airline labor from the
current crisis. Additionally, no known study uses historical industry data and econometric
modelling to estimate the impact of uncertainty shocks on major, low-cost, and regional airline
labor. This study represents the first attempt to model the impact of uncertainty shocks to airline
labor.

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 SAFETY MEASURES

Covid-19 crisis has severely impacted almost all industries but disruptions in the airline industry
is so profound that it is assumed to be greater than the combined crises of 9/11 and the 2008 global
financial put together. The Government of India (acting through DGCA) (“GoI”) has vide its (i)
order dated March 23, 2020 passed under Section 88(1) of the Aircraft Act, 1934; and (ii) orders
dated March 26, 2020 and April 14, 2020 directed inter alia all aircraft operators to suspend the
operations of all the domestic flights and all scheduled international commercial passenger
services until May 3, 2020. The forward air travel bookings are far outweighed by the
cancellations. Air travel demand is drying up in ways that are unprecedented with no semblance
of normalcy on the horizon. For an industry which is already stressed, Covid-19 has only
accelerated the process of bankruptcy filing by several companies (like Virgin Australia and Air
Mauritius). Those airline companies which are still in business have also suffered misfortunes as
coronavirus-forced lockdowns have kept their fleets grounded. Per the market sources, apart from
the pay cut, several airline companies (Indigo, Go Airlines) have also taken other cost cutting
measures including furloughs.

Given the turbulence caused due to the outbreak of Covid-19, it is crucial for the airline industry
to focus on the horizon to successfully navigate the challenges (including legal, financial and
operational) which are likely to surface once the pandemic is behind us. Future flight plan for the
airlines will be influenced to a great extent by factors such as avoiding countries that have been
virus epicentres and gauging government responses on the type and duration of travel restrictions
and the conditions under which they might be relaxed. It is likely that governments across the
globe may consider imposing specific restrictions/limitations (akin to the security measures put in
place after terrorism events for inbound and outbound passengers. These restrictions/ limitations
may include a mandatory health screenings or certificates (form prescribed medical practitioners)
prior to the boarding. In this article we analyse and identify various operational challenges and
legal issues which may arise because of the nationwide shutdown and explore mitigants, if any.

The most critical question today vis-à-vis Covid-19 concerns the duration of the crisis in light of
government responses and the progression of the virus. For the aviation industry, besides lifting
of the current lock-down, relaxation on the ban of air travel both within and outside India should
also be considered. Nevertheless, the duration of Ccovid-19 crisis is likely to differ by region and

[8]
by country. International Air Transport Association has identified India amongst the priority
countries that need to take action for relieving the already struggling airline companies from the
stress caused due to the pandemic. There are several industries including Travel and Tourism
which are heavily dependent on the aviation industry and jobs across many sectors will be
impacted if airlines do not survive the Covid-19 crisis.

Post Covid, megatrends such as the dramatic rise in remote working, government or organisation-
imposed limitations/restrictions on air travel, greater reliance on locally-oriented supply chains as
well as avoiding non-essential travels will impact the recovery demand in the aviation industry
and may lead to major overhaul in the management and operation of the airline industry.

In order to fly safely through this turbulent time, it is of utmost importance that the airline
companies launch a crisis management team or as its being coined by some in the industry – “Plan
Ahead Team”. This Plan Ahead Team will be responsible for collecting forward looking
intelligence and provide a Post Covid-19 flight plan to guide and accelerate decision making.
Following are some of the of the challenges/considerations which airline companies in India may
consider while formulating their Post Covid-19 flight plan:

a. Third party contractor agreements/Hedging arrangement for jet fuel prices:

Determination of the optimal size and dimensions of their networks and fleet will hold the key to
the survival of airline companies. These companies may have to revamp their strategies vis-à-vis
the air travel restrictions imposed by the governments to identify routes that are most likely to
recover basis demand, regulatory and market structure scenarios. The determination of routes that
are most likely to recover will determine which fleet/route to recommission. For the routes that
could not be recommissioned or are partially commissioned post Covid-19 and withdrawal of
lockdown orders, the airline companies may have to renegotiate/re-assess the legal risk that may
arise pursuant to their contracts with third party contractors engaged for inter alia refueling;
catering; runway/taxiway construction and repair; aircraft maintenance and overhaul; crew
training; and flight dispatch. Further, airline companies must also consider revisiting/re-
negotiating their existing contracts for hedging the jet fuel prices. Most of the airline are locked
into contracts for hedging the jet fuel prices. There has been a steep drop in the prices of jet fuel
as an upshot of the current crisis. Accordingly, the airline companies will have to pay their higher

[9]
hedged amount for jet fuel, creating hedging loses. In this context, the existing provisions of these
contracts become relevant to determine the leverage of discussions from a legal rights perspective.

b. Financing Arrangements:

Given that the airline companies have suspended all their business, it would imperative to ascertain
if defaults would get triggered under the various financing agreements entered by the airline
companies. Where an event of default is only triggered upon a ‘voluntary’ suspension of business,
it may be argued that such temporary cessation of business due to the virus outbreak is a direct
consequence of the government regulations and therefore outside the scope of such provision.
Further, it would be relevant to check if an event of default is qualified by a requirement that a
suspension of business has a “material adverse effect” on the borrower’s ability to perform its
contractual obligations. If there is a significant impact on the borrower’s ability to pay, this will
likely satisfy the test of ‘material adverse effect. Additionally, it is expected that post-Covid-19
and lifting of the lockdown orders, for reasons including financial and operational difficulties, the
airline companies may not be able to commence operations in all the sectors or may not be in a
position to recommission their entire fleet. Given the aforesaid, it would be relevant for airline
companies to review the event of default provision relating to ‘cessation of business’ in their
financing agreements. Cessation of Business would typically include events where a company
‘threatens’ to suspend or cease to carry on its business and therefore, one may argue that such
temporary closures post Covid-19 and/or lifting of lockdown orders, would constitute a ‘cessation’
of business. It would be prudent for airline companies to review their facility agreements when
contemplating Covid-19 related measures and consider the impact of such measures may have on
their financing arrangements. These tests can be carried out during the period of lockdown, such
that the provisions can be re-considered by the parties.

c. Aircraft Lease Agreements:

The airline companies may have to revisit/review their aircraft lease agreements. The airline
companies may consider approaching the lessors for seeking concessions in relation to the lease
obligations including ‘rental holiday’ on account of liquidity crunch consequent to fall in ticket
receipts post Covid-19. While the lessors may be entitled to decline requests for concessions on
lease obligations, the commercial reality may well be that lessors will have to assess whether
supporting an airline in some way may improve their financial health in the aftermath of the crisis

[10]
or whether such benevolence will only delay the end of a business that was struggling in any case.
It may be worthwhile to consider that the relief package/concessions which an airline company
may seek from the lessors may include inter alia a standstill for an agreed period with an agreed
repayment schedule to recapture the unpaid rents, forbearance on event of default at a cost.

d. Governmental Support:

Globally, the market structure for airline industry is set to witness a major revamp. This change
will be significantly influenced by government responses to the crisis and types and levels of
support extended to the airline industry. For instance, several European countries have announced
support for airline employees as a panacea to the airline companies for drastically reducing their
employee costs. The United States is offering a rescue package for all carriers that comprises a
mix of payroll grants and loans. Similar support has been extended or is likely to be extended (to
the employees directly or to airline companies) in the Middle East and some Asian countries. In
the absence of specific announcements/ relief measures, the airline companies in India may
consider approaching the Ministry of Civil Aviation and/or the GoI for relaxation/waiver in
relation to various fees/licenses including airport charges, AAI and Private Airport Operators’
space rentals and infrastructure charges which are to be paid by them. This waiver may specifically
be sought in relation to air spaces/sectors, which the airline companies suspect will not be
recommissioned or sectors where the travel demand likely to rebound slowly.

e. Resolution/Restructuring:

Globally there are several airline companies which have filed for bankruptcy. Per CAPA-Centre
of Aviation, most world airlines would be bankrupt by the end of May. In this context, the Ministry
of Finance (“MoF”) has on March 24, 2020, indicated that if Covid-19 crisis continues beyond
April 30, 2020, it may consider suspending Section 7, 9 and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code, 2016 for a period of six months to stop companies from being forced into insolvency
proceedings in such force majeure causes of default under the commercial agreements (e.g.
financing agreements, lease agreements). Additionally, RBI has issued several circulars dealing
with the measures to alleviate the Covid -19 impact on corporate India. With this background, the
airline companies may consider engaging in dialogues with their creditors/lenders for preparing
and implementing a resolution/revival plans which may involve sale or purchase of minority equity

[11]
stakes, merger and other consolidation opportunities for resolving the financial crisis and liquidity
crunch.

f. Import Duties and Trade barriers:

Government of India is considering putting in place several trade restrictions/embargo on the

import of goods from China. The airline companies in India import spare parts including generator
control units for their inventory from China. The prices of these spare parts may be increased due
to the embargo/trade restrictions imposed by the Government of India.

As Covid -19 continues to spread across the globe, the challenges triggered by it are numerous and
unprecedented. In order to successfully navigate through this challenging and uncertain
environment, a thoroughly crafted and a comprehensive flight plan will be pivotal. The dramatic
reduction in passenger numbers represents a threat to the solvency of the airline companies. The
airline companies may consider restructuring their business and debt. However, it would
imperative that any such restructurings (business or debt) will have to be agreed and implemented
relatively quickly, in order to avoid collapses. It may be worthwhile to note that in stressed
situations like Covid-19, being on the fastest trajectory may matter more than having a great plan
that may quickly become outdated. Therefore, after the pandemic is contained, GoI may have to
provide a relief package for the aviation industry to support economic recovery and prevent
collapse of the aviation industry.

The Indian tourism and hospitality industry are severely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19.
Once COVID-19 crisis is contained, the GoI may inter alia consider developing an appropriate
messaging/advertising campaign (similar to ‘Incredible India’ tourism campaign) so as to provide
necessary impetus to the recovery of the aviation industry post COVID-19.

Airports, in cooperation with respective health ministries, are implementing preventive measures
throughout terminals to deal with the outbreak – such as temperature checks, health screenings,
installing extra hand-sanitizing stations, stepping up scheduled cleaning and enhanced sanitization
efforts.

Some airports have taken to splitting some of their essential services or airport systems teams into
two; one working onsite while the other supports remotely. This allows for rotation or fallback. In

[12]
the event of any member of the onsite team getting infected or falling ill, the second team can step
in to maintain business continuity.

Some airports have also implemented flexible office hours or meal breaks for other personnel, with
the overriding consideration to ensure safety and security, which forms the basis of essential
services.

In response to the drop in passenger traffic, other airport partners – such as retailers, food and
beverage concessions, and airlines – while maintaining a certain level of necessary services, have
taken to adjusting rosters and work schedules to minimize overcrowding of frontline personnel
onsite. In some instances, frontline personnel are also asked to take unpaid leave.

Airports are doing everything they can to keep their airports open and make sure that they’re ready
to support a strong recovery when the time is right. It is really important to make sure that the
people that continue to fly today feel safe and secure when they’re at the airport. It’s absolutely
essential that supply chains remain open so that we can continue to meet the needs of the
community. Airports are working very closely with government agencies to make sure that
essential travel continues in line with health and safety requirements.

The fixed costs of an airport are about 70-80 per cent of their overall cost base, whether there is
one flight or 100 operating. That means airports have had to make tough decisions on cancelling
or postponing capital expenditure, furloughing non-essential staff, pay cuts and a range of other
measures to limit expenditure to such levels that the airport can stay open for as a long as possible
in order to continue serving our communities. At the time of doing this interview, we’re clear that
time is running out and that the UK government needs to step in to support airports to remain open
for the critical services their local communities rely on. The added complication is that staff who
are furloughed may have regulatory requirements to stay current and able to return to their jobs
once the pandemic has receded. An air traffic controller, for example, has to work a certain number
of hours in their sector of airspace every month. If they don’t, their return to work could be delayed
while they go through training and, thus, the operational recovery could be hampered. Airports are
grappling with all these operational challenges currently.

Airports have activated their business continuity plans, are running virtual Emergency Operations
Centers (EOC), and identifying minimum staffing levels and shift work to ensure essential services

[13]
continue for as long as possible. The challenge with this pandemic is that, although airports may
proactively anticipate and act upon the events presented, the situation is changing so rapidly and
can so suddenly affect the workforce that the airport may not have a choice to limit essential
services. This incident is historic and unlike any other we’ve seen. Furthermore, catastrophic
incidents that the U.S. has previously experienced has never affected the entire country at once.
This now leaves many who have previously relied on mutual aid or partners for help to fend for
themselves, as those partners are all-hands on deck with their own issues.

[14]
 IMPACT ON AVIATION AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern airport revenues are under tremendous pressure three months into
2020 amidst the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. China and other Asian countries made
significant efforts to contain the transmission of the virus however, as we know, it has spread to
other regions of the world. We can expect the same pressure there and, by now, a global impact.

Airport revenue generation is directly linked to traffic levels. The flight bans and cancellations are
leading to less flights, hence less aeronautical revenue coming in. Unlike other players in the
aviation industry, when traffic demand falls, airports have limited ways of reducing costs. The cost
of operating airport infrastructure remains the same, and airports can’t close down or relocate
terminals and runways.

The other aspect to consider is non-aeronautical revenues, which are necessary, as aeronautical
revenue alone cannot cover all airport operations and capital cost. For some hub airports in the
region, non-aeronautical revenues are the principal revenue source. On average, Asia-Pacific
airports derive as much as 45 per cent of their revenues from non-aeronautical sources. The drop
in passengers has a significant impact on the airport’s and airport retailer’s bottom line.

On the human side, it also impacts the community and all of the personnel working with the various
sectors and service providers at the airport. It has become common for retailers and airlines to ask
their personnel to take unpaid leave during this troubling time.

These events have impacted the aviation industry in a way that we simply haven’t seen before. The
Australian Airports Association (AAA) estimated that, in March 2020, Australia’s major airports
would lose more than $500 million in aeronautical revenue alone, compared to 2019. The true cost
will depend on how long travel restrictions remain in place and how quickly the recovery comes.
While airports are feeling the impact of falling demand and travel restrictions, we know there are
many others in the community feeling this too. Every lost passenger is a loss not just to us, but to
the retailers in our terminals, the taxi and ride-share drivers and the other airport businesses that
rely on us and the passengers we serve. So, the focus now is on working together with airport
partners to make sure we remain open for business and ready for recovery when the time comes.

[15]
passenger traffic been affected

Entering the new decade, some airports in the region were generating positive growth leading up
to the Lunar New Year. Then, the severity of the virus became known.

As a result of the travel bans and flight cancellations in response to the outbreak, we are seeing a
severe drop in passenger traffic as many countries are decreasing air connectivity. In February
2020, scheduled capacity within Asia-Pacific dropped drastically, in excess of a 15 per cent
decrease. According to the China Ministry of Transportation, the Chinese civil aviation sector
handled 38.4 million passengers during the 2020 40-day Lunar New Year travel period,
representing a decline of 47.5 per cent from the same 40-day period in 2019.

At this juncture, it is important that the industry and regulators work together to decide on relief
measures to address the current challenges and develop recovery plans for the entire aviation value
chain. Airports Council International (ACI) believes that any measure should be evidence-based
and should take a balanced approach, taking into consideration the need for people to continue
necessary travel but does not oblige airlines to fly empty aircraft, which would be unwarranted
and unsustainable.

[16]
For example, there have been recent calls for a global suspension of the 80 per cent slots
usage requirement – commonly referred to as the 80/20 rule. This 80/20 rule allows a carrier to
continue using the same slot in the next scheduling period, provided that it has used that allocated
slot for at least 80 per cent in the previous period. This would be a disproportionate response in
the absence of a global pandemic at the time of writing, and continued demand from many regions,
including North America and much of Europe. We believe a blanket suspension of the 80/20 rule
would hamper traffic recovery once the COVID-19 impact diminishes and the propensity to fly
increases again.

We had already seen significant impacts on passenger numbers before wider travel restrictions
were introduced in Australia in March 2020. In February 2020, Australia’s two largest airports
saw declines in international passenger numbers of approximately 17 per cent compared to the
same month in 2019. Those falls have, of course, increased, as travel restrictions have come into
force and airlines have cut capacity. Australia’s two domestic airlines have been required to
suspend international operations and significantly scale back domestic operations, so we are now
seeing far more limited flight schedules nationally. However, there are still passengers that need
to fly, and our airports are making sure essential travel continues during this time.

The impact so far has been dramatic, with a number of airports now having zero or near-zero
passengers travelling through their terminals. At the same time, airports are working hard to remain
open for critical services, such as repatriation flights and the increased number of full-freight
flights, but also air ambulances, HM Coastguard, military flights, life-line services to remote
communities, flying crew out to the oil and gas rigs in the North Sea and supporting maintenance
of offshore wind.

This is a challenging time for airports: They are trying to continue to play their vital role for local
communities whilst their main source of revenue disappears. It is very difficult to see how this will
play out in the coming months, as we are unsure how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, or
indeed how quickly economies and societies rebound from their lockdowns. As a sector, we need
to be ready for all eventualities – and that is why the Airport Operators Association (AOA) has
been so vocal in calling for UK government support to see us through the worst of it and ensure
airports stand ready to support the recovery, when it finally comes.

[17]
Actions have been put in place by the industry – both regional and global – to limit the virus
spreading

Unfortunately, outbreaks of communicable diseases are not new to the aviation industry but,
fortunately, airport members have learned from previous situations and, with the help of
associations such as ACI, have prepared themselves.

ACI has documented a series of provisions in a number of areas to enhance preparedness in

its Airport Preparedness Guidelines for Outbreaks of Communicable Diseases publication. These
are related – but not limited to – elements like communication, inbound and outbound screening,
emergency response and coordination with relevant authorities. Airports have also undertaken
additional measures related to hygiene, work-from-home policies and health declarations.

Air travel is essential to global trade, and that’s why we must find ways to continue travel in the
safest possible way. Coordination with other relevant organizations, such as International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), is a must.

The first priority of all our members is the health and safety of their people and passengers.
Australian airports are working very closely with the government to make sure that the latest health
and safety advice is followed, and we are seeing strong coordination on the ground between
airports, airlines and government. While that coordination is an important part of day-to-day
airport operations, it has been absolutely essential when supporting the government’s new travel
restrictions and screening measures.

The aviation industry has had to cope with pandemics before, and we know the important role we
play to prevent the spread of disease. In the UK, airports have closely followed the advice of the
four national public health authorities for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland by
putting in place screening where requested, but also widespread information campaigns on how
travellers should respond to the virus. Airports have also worked closely with airlines, particularly
where they had concerns over individual travellers prior to the virus spreading in UK communities.
This is all coordinated at a European and global level, for example through the European Aviation
Crisis Communication Cell. At times, the public health advice has not always been in line with
what the public felt we should do, and that has been challenging for airports to manage. The line

[18]
between what is the best advice from medical experts and the measures that the public wants to
see for reassurance is one that needs to be finely balanced.

The Colossal COVID-19 Impact On Airlines in India and A Struggle for Survival

With no signs of a government financial assistance plan, India's now-grounded aviation sector lies
perilously close to bankruptcy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Desperate to resume operations, all Indian carriers are ill-equipped to deal with the extension of
the lockdown till May 3, which was announced on Tuesday. No Indian carrier is even in a position
to refund passengers who had booked flights scheduled to operate had the lockdown ended, as
originally planned, on Tuesday, April 14.

Instead, SpiceJet, Vistara, IndiGo and GoAir have told passengers that their bookings for travel
upto May 3 were cancelled and that their entire amount will be secure in a "credit-shell" which can
be used to re-book travel later in the year or early next year.

With revenues disappearing, IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet have already announced steep across-
the-board salary cuts.

[19]
There is still no clarity, however, if a few of these airlines will survive the next few months without
a massive government bailout of the sector, details of which have not been announced.

According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) which closely monitors civil aviation
in the country, ''Most Indian airlines have not structured their business models to be able to
withstand even regular shocks, such as elevated fuel prices or economic downturns, let alone once-
in-a-century events.''

The writing appears to be on the wall. ''In the event of a 3-month shutdown, the two listed carriers
alone - IndiGo and SpiceJet - could report combined losses of USD1.25-1.50 billion across
4QFY2020 and 1QFY2021. IndiGo's hitherto enviable free cash reserves may almost be wiped out
by the end of 2QFY2021. Smaller carriers may exit,'' says CAPA in its report titled "Projecting the
potential financial impact of COVID 19 on Indian Aviation".

Worried about the meltdown of the aviation sector, several countries have already moved to
prevent millions of job losses in the industry. There have been no similar announcements in India.

Distressed airlines in the United States can rely on a $71 billion support package. Under job
protection measures, airlines in the UK can request the government to subsidise 80 per cent of
salaries up to a certain limit for upto three months. Various airlines in the European Union have
already negotiated with their governments for packages - Finnair has secured a $650 million loan
guarantee, airlines in Norway have been promised $540 million while Swedish carriers can avail
of $500 million.

Countries whose economies depend greatly on civil aviation, such as Singapore and the United
Arab Emirates, have provided direct cash infusion to save key airlines. The UAE government is
fully supporting Emirates through equity infusion while Singapore has announced a $500 million
package for the aviation sector, a $2.8 billion bridging loan and a $10 billion rights in equity and
convertible bonds which will allow Singapore Airlines to survive the COVID-19 storm relatively
unscathed.

[20]
The United Arab Emirates and Singapore, whose economies depend greatly on civil aviation, have
provided direct cash infusion to save key airlines.

Airlines in India have, in the best of times, suffered the ''double-whammy of steeply rising fuel
costs and the decline in the value of the Indian Rupee'', says the International Air Transport
Association (IATA). Fuel costs in India, which account for 40 per cent of the overall costs of low-
cost carriers, are ''well above the global average of 24 per cent". Fluctuating fuel prices and price-
wars within the sector have been part of the reason why once-leading airlines such as Jet Aiways
and Kingfisher Airlines collapsed. ''While it is easy to find Indian passengers who want to fly, it's
very difficult for airlines to make money in this market,'' says Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's
Director General.

India's airlines are heavily dependent on low fuel costs to balance their fixed costs which come
from the lease rental of aircraft, labour expenses, sales and marketing, airport charges and other
operating expenses. At 9 to 10 per cent of their overall expenses, steep airport charges alone are a
serious financial drain. These charges include fees for landing, parking and navigating while over

[21]
Indian airspace. Airlines are also charged for the use of aero-bridges on a per landing and take-off
basis and on the common use of terminals on a per departing flight basis.

A wish-list for Indian airlines looking to survive the coronavirus storm could include support for
salaries, an exemption of airport charges, a reduction on the excise duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel
(ATF), bringing ATF under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and suspending
infrastructure charges at Indian airports.

With revenues disappearing, IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet have already announced steep across-
the-board salary cuts. GoAir, which has begun terminating the contracts of its expat pilots, has
also asked its staff to go on temporary leave without pay on a rotational basis.

[22]
Given the massive slowdown across the economy and plummeting growth rates, the government
may, however, only be in a position to offer functional relief which could include ''waivers and
moratoriums on liabilities,'' says CAPA. "Given the massive structural dislocation faced by the
aviation sector, this may not be sufficient to rescue operators, particularly weaker companies.''

India's national investment promotion and facilitation agency, Invest India, proudly says, ''India is
now the third largest and fastest growing aviation market in terms of domestic tickets sold". That
may have been true before COVID-19 struck.

Indian aviation employees battle fear and anxiety as job losses and pay cuts
loom

A year after the grounding of Jet Airways sent the sector into a tailspin, life seems to have come a
full circle for India’s aviation employees. Fears of job loss, pay cuts, and income freeze are once
again rife amid the disruption caused by the coronavirus.

On April 5, regional airline Air Deccan ceased operations and sent its staff on an indefinite
sabbatical without pay. Bigger players like Vistara, SpiceJet, Air India, GoAir, and IndiGo are
staring at deteriorating balance sheets, which will remain under pressure for a while.

This has left many aviation employees, who were in any case leading a paycheck-to-paycheck
existence, anxious about their future.

[23]
Panic-stricken

Those with relatively less experience have no financial cushion. “I live in a rented apartment in
Mumbai, the cost of living is already too high and I don’t have much savings. The budget for this
month has already gone for a toss,” a Vistara air hostess, who joined the airline four years ago,
told Quartz on the condition of anonymity.

The carrier, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, sent 30% of its 4,000
employees on mandatory leave without pay between April 1 and April 14 to curb costs. However,
the airline has made it clear that the current pay cuts will not impact the cabin crew as of now but
the employees aren’t confident about the future.

For many, the pandemic has come as a rude shock as the aviation sector was showing some signs
of stability in recent months. “I’m financially pressurised…because I never saw this coming. There
has been absolutely no assurance from my airline as of now,” Aviral Arora (name changed), a pilot
with state-owned Air India, with seven years’ experience, told Quartz.

Arora’s wife, a pilot with SpiceJet, added that she’s not optimistic about the sector taking off for
at least a couple of years.

Speculations about the sector’s future are making others wary of their careers.

For instance, Abhishek Kaushik (name changed) from Delhi, a pilot with Air India is under a lot
of pressure about his job security. To maintain his sanity, he says, he left his office chat groups to
focus on other things.

But is it helping? “Not much,” he confesses. “My airline announced a 10% reduction in salaries
for all employees. Around 200 pilots who were re-employed on contract after retirement have been
relieved of their services till further notice as a cost-cutting measure,” Kaushik said. “The situation
right now is very dynamic and grim.”

On April 2, Air India announced a pay cut for all its employees for the next three months. The
carrier’s flying crew is yet to receive 70% of their February wages, say the airline’s employees’
unions.

Saloni Mehra (name changed), an air hostess with GoAir for three years is facing a similar
situation. She’s been occupying herself with household chores, and physical workouts to keep her

[24]
mind calm amid messages from colleagues warning of job losses. “No matter what I do, the stress
always creeps in quietly and insidiously. After all, it’s my only source of income. My life depends
on it,” Mehra added.

Her airline has promised its employees that there will be no job cuts. And the assurance may hold
true, in her case.

Many senior pilots Quartz spoke to say airlines may not fire pilots and cabin crew, despite the
current paycuts.

“From whenever we start operations, it will be a slow process of rebuilding and, therefore, a lot of
layoffs are expected in three-four months. However, pilots and cabin crew will be safe,” said
Kaushik of Air India.

Training of pilots and the cabin crew is an exhaustive and expensive process. Besides, the industry
is already dealing with a shortage of pilots. In a conversation with Quartz in February, IndiGo’s
senior vice-president and head of human resources, Raj Raghavan, acknowledged the same.

Carriers, which are already under pressure, will try to avoid the cost of training new first officers,
says Sudeep Sen, spokesperson of human resource platform, TeamLease Services.

Yet, not all jobs are safe. Ground staff and people with little experience in departments like the
cargo handling, or customer service will get the pink slip as the companies can do without them
for now.

This, though, may ward off quality talent from entering the industry.

“With the existing job security, the industry will not be as attractive for job seekers as it used to
be a few years ago,” said Siddhartha Kumar, a Delhi-based aviation analyst. “For someone who’s
aiming to start his career, it’s definitely going to be challenging. As airlines will not be willing to
invest in them and they are on the frontline to get fired first.”

Yet, many who are driven by their passion for the industry plan to stick around. “Money holds and
will continue to hold, a secondary slot for me. I wish to continue as long as I am fit to fly.

[25]
Researchers have assessed the initial impact of Covid-19 on air transport and found that it is likely
to lead to a smaller, consolidated sector in the future.

The research, led by Cranfield University, involved a series of in-depth interviews with senior
aviation industry executives, along with analysis of flight and air freight data. The paper is
published in the Journal of Transport Geography.

In the drop in flight numbers since March, data showed the impact has been stronger in
international than domestic markets. Interviewees thought the crisis would lead to consolidation
and a significantly smaller industry.

“Along with other sectors of the economy, air traffic is vulnerable to external factors, such as oil
crises, natural disasters, armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, economic recessions and disease
outbreaks. The findings of this paper represent an early assessment that can help the aviation
industry and other related industries like tourism in the preparation for the recovery period,” Dr
Pere Suau-Sanchez, Senior Lecturer in Air Transport Management at Cranfield University, said in
a statement.

[26]
Covid-19 consequences highlighted by the interviewees included:

• Full-service network carriers are likely to be major losers since the recovery in international
markets will be slower and they may face new competition with the potential entry of new
airlines in their home hub markets.
• Regional airlines were identified as possible short-term winners during the recovery period
as they could potentially help FSNCs adjust their feeding capacity.
• Low-cost carriers are expected to concentrate in primary markets with possible entry in
hub airports, and a general reduction in frequencies at the route level.
• Regional and secondary airports are likely to lose out as capacity is freed up in larger
markets, attracting airlines and enabling larger hub airports to reinforce their positions.

Interviewees were concerned about the recovery of business travel, mainly due to the cancellation
of meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions (MICE) events, and the uneven lift of travel
bans. Teleworking was seen as a serious threat to demand, with the current context of digital
transformation and cloud apps offering better solutions for teleworking than the traditional
videoconference.

The leisure passenger segment was expected to be recover faster. But reduced disposable incomes
would curtail propensity to fly. Fear and health concerns were identified as major issues for leisure
travellers, more so than for business travelers.

All interviewees believed new health screening controls would translate into higher costs for
airports and passengers, but did not consider social distancing to be a viable commercial option
for airlines.

[27]
COVID-19 impact: Severe job losses likely across sectors in India

There could be severe job losses across different sectors in India if the corona virus impact
continues for few more months. Experts believe that it may take on an average at least four to six
months for different businesses to recover from the impact.

The most severely impacted sectors could be the aviation, travel, hospitality, retail, manufacturing
and automotive sectors. In the aviation sector pay cuts and warning bells have already started
ringing with reports talking about IndiGo already announcing pay cuts for its employees. Many
other airlines may follow suit and may even go to the extent of trimming its workforce.

“The aviation sector is already bleeding and I believe that IndiGo has already announced a salary
cut for its employees. Besides that, Go Air has already retrenched many of its expat pilots. If things
do not improve we can expect huge job cuts in the aviation sector. Many of the airline companies
take aircraft on lease and have to pay regular money to the leasing companies irrespective of
whether they fly or keep these aircraft grounded. All this will put extra pressure on the aviation
companies and they will be forced to sack people.
Many international airlines that have operations from India have already announced a reduction in
capacity. For instance, Singapore Airlines will be cutting 96 per cent of its scheduled capacity up

[28]
to the end of April. An airline statement said that the collapse in the demand for air travel has led
to a significant decline in its passenger revenues. The company is already having discussions with
aircraft manufacturers to defer upcoming aircraft deliveries and hopes to consequently defer
payment for those aircraft deliveries. It is also contemplating salary cuts and a voluntary no pay
leave scheme up to certain management positions.

Brand expert Harish Bijoor pointed out that COVID-19 is a global issue and is going to shed jobs
like a tree in late autumn. “The times are tough. Very tough. As has been seen in the past, there is
a kind of inflationary pressure around. As more and more good people chase bad jobs, salaries will
tumble and increments will vanish for a while. Jobs most at risk are high salary jobs at the top of
the job chain. At the same time the entry level will postpone hiring as far into the future as possible.
This is sheer job trauma staring at us in the near future.

Experts also say that the COVID-19 affect is such that it can lead to severe to very severe impact
on the travel and tourism sector in India with thousands of jobs being axed. “In India many hotels
both luxury and budget are running at just 10 percent of occupancy levels as thousands of people
have canceled their trips. This may further worsen in the times to come at least till end of this year.
For instance, Airbnb announced its guests could cancel their reservations for a full refund. This
step would have hurt the company very much. Also, the automotive segment which is already
bleeding will also face the brunt of the job losses. Many of their plants are closed and hence will
be forced to shunt out temporary workers. Besides this the auto ancillary companies will be forced
to shut shop resulting in thousands of job losses in the coming months,” added Lakshmikanth.
Experts have said that though recovery can happen in the next few months this year will be very
difficult year for India Inc and could also lead to many job losses from which it would be difficult
for the workers to recover, as there would be very limited hiring in the times to come.

“For consumer, retail and services sector (which includes travel, tourism, hospitality, logistics),
hiring will be severely impacted. The decline could be nearly 20 per cent. Manufacturing and other
core sectors of the economy such as power, infrastructure, mining, agriculture will be cautious in
hiring. They are all impacted by the disruption in supply chains. Focus of these organisations will
now be on bringing the business to normalcy.

This expert further remarks that the consumer, retail and services will face the brunt of the Covid-
19 affect in a big way and the sector is set to lose at least 100,000 jobs.

[29]
“Most of these losses will be in the informal economy of jobs such as tour operators, drivers,
guides, billing, customer service, operations and micro retailers. For formal sector (organised
sector), employees with PF and other such benefits would also be impacted. Similarly,
manufacturing, engineering, construction will shrink by about 70,000 jobs including the people
working in unorganized sectors from April-June. Due to the lockdown in a huge number of
districts, lakhs of people are losing their daily wages. The recovery is expected in July-Dec 2020,”
added Mishra.

In the retail segment the impact can be severe currently due to the temporary shut down in the
supply chain. Praveen Khandelwal CAIT Secretary General observed that many of the wholesale
dealers are suffering and many of the temporary workers working in the wholesale market are
expected to lose their jobs as they earn on a daily basis.

“Many of such temporary workers depend on their day to day earning. In case of a lockdown and
a partial lock down there is no activity in the wholesale market and that is going to affect the
market and there would be no job for the daily workers,” said Khandelwal. He also felt that short
term corona cash loans at reduced interest rates should be given to domestic small industries to
boost the production and to the traders for maintaining effective and uninterrupted supply chain
across the country and the government and the RBI should underwrite such scheme.

Experts also observe that there could be some hiring activity in some sectors that are bound to
grow. “Hiring in e commerce and e logistics sectors is bound to grow in the coming months despite
the Covid-19. Many people are preferring to buy items through the e-commerce sites as the
physical retail has taken a back seat. At the same time hiring in the pharma sector, FMCG and the
telecom will be up in the coming months as these are sectors that will witness growth in the coming
months,”

[30]
 TOURISM AND COMPANY

By now, we are all too familiar with the shocking images of empty airports! The outbreak has
impacted airport operations in many ways.

To deal with preventive measures, airport staff are being redirected to handle things from
temperature screenings and collecting health declaration, to adjusting the airport infrastructure,
reserving specific parking gates for flights coming from severely-impacted countries and creating
triage areas. To deal with the impact, airports are needing to find space on the tarmac for parked
fleets.

As a highly-visible industry, aviation can sometimes be perceived as a high-risk industry. We need

to better emphasise to the travelling public that the aviation industry takes the wellbeing of
travellers, employees and all those that pass through an airport very seriously.

This has been such a rapidly changing situation and has impacted all aspects of airport operations.
Airports have implemented a range of new measures to support social distancing and are providing
additional cleaning measures to ensure the health and safety of their workforce and passengers. In
many cases, that is changing how airport staff work and interact. Airports have also been working
very closely with their airline partners, retailers and suppliers as the industry has responded to
falling demand. We all need to operate flexibly to work through this.

with zero or close-to-zero passengers, airports across the UK have significantly downscaled their
passenger operations. From closing sections of a terminal to closing whole terminals and even
entire airports, sometimes only to passengers but also wholly closing down to all traffic. However,
airports are mindful of the role they play for their communities, and a lot of that is not about
passenger operations. The challenge has been to balance the need to keep the airport open with the
financial reality of that.

Airports are impacted by staffing shortages, low passenger levels and attempts to keep staff who
are deemed at a higher risk of infection safer through social distancing. These efforts include
working from home and liberal leave. Airport managers are forecasting how their operations will
be impacted if the workforce of critical or emergency personnel are exposed to or confirmed to
have COVID-19. If this were to happen, there would not be enough personnel to staff important

[31]
positions for Part 139 requirements, such as the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF)
apparatus, air traffic control (ATC) tower or airport operations.

Potential impact of Covid-19 on Indian aviation and tourism

As the Covid-19 cases in India cross 4,000 with worldwide cases at 1,284,665, KPMG, a
multinational professional services network, has put together a paper that offers a foresight on the
business landscape, including aviation and tourism in India.

Analyzing the impact, the study throws some light on the overall situation of Indian economy
amid the pandemic:

Steps taken to contain its spread, such as nationwide restrictions for 21 days and a complete
lockdown of states, have brought economic activity to a standstill and could impact both
consumption and investment.

While Indian businesses, barring a few sectors, can possibly insulate themselves from the global
supply chain disruption caused by the outbreak due to relatively lower reliance on intermediate
imports, their exports to Covid-19 infected nations could take a hit.

[32]
Here are the excerpts on the analysis of the impact of the pandemic on Indian aviation and
tourism industries:

• With international and domestic travel closed, demand for turbine fuel will substantially
decline.
• Large scale cancellations. Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) estimates the
hotel, aviation and travel sector together may incur loss of about ₹85 billion due to travel
restrictions imposed on foreign tourists.
• Outbound travel and inbound travel to India will be at an all-time low.
• Impact likely to be felt on both white and blue collar jobs.
• The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates the crisis to cost the tourism
sector at least US$22 billion, the travel sector shrinking by up to 25 per cent in 2020,
resulting in a loss of 50 million jobs.
• As per International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2020 global revenue loss for the
passenger business is estimated between US$63 billion (11 per cent) and US$114 Billion
(19 per cent).
• On account of Covid-19, the Indian tourism and hospitality industry is staring at a potential
job loss of around 38 million, which is around 70 per cent of the total workforce.
• The outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronovirus) has disrupted India’s economy as tourism,
hospitality, aviation, transportation and restaurant businesses are on a nationwide halt.

According to the industry reports, the hospitality sector has projected more than Rs 30,000 crore
of loss of revenue during 2020, India’s aviation sector will report losses in excess of Rs 8,200 crore
in the approaching quarter as international and domestic flights are still grounded.

The lockdowns are creating an unsuspecting impact on the lives and livelihood of many.
The National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) have given clear signs that even 10-20
percent job losses among its 7.3 million employees in restaurants across the country would mean
up to 15 lakhs unemployed. Something that would give rise to major social consequences.

[33]
In sync, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Task Force to decide on an economic
package for India. Meanwhile, CII has planned Rs 2 lakh crore to pumped into the Indian economy
as booster to ride over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbreak of coronavirus can have severe problematic consequences at a time when the Indian
economy is at a quarterly GDP growth rate of 4.7 per cent, a multi-year low performance. The
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das also recently admitted during a press conference
that India is not immune to the pandemic and could face slowdown in domestic growth.

India’s aviation and tourism seek bailout to cope with Covid-19

Airports have incurred costs to comply with govt. advisories while hotel occupancies have
plummeted after travel bans

The drop in passenger traffic has also impacted non-aero revenues such as food and beverage sales,
the APAO said

India’s aviation and tourism industry, reeling from the impact of the global outbreak of
coronavirus, is seeking help from the government to mitigate the financial impact of the epidemic.

The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has written to the civil aviation ministry
seeking an alleviation package to deal with the higher expenses incurred to prevent the spread of
the disease such as screening of passengers and disinfection.

The body has also asked for levying a “nominal passenger facilitation charge" on airline tickets to
cover the extra cost. “The trade impact of the coronavirus epidemic for India is estimated to be
about $348 million and the country figures among the top five economies most affected as
slowdown of manufacturing in China disrupts world trade, according to a UN report," the APAO
said in a letter to the ministry of civil aviation.

The drop in passenger traffic has also impacted non-aero revenues such as food and beverage sales,
the APAO said. “Ensuring compliance with government advisories on screening of passengers has
required airports to significantly beef up its manpower deployment at airports as well as make
expenditure on various items like masks, sanitizers and floor cleaners," the association said.

[34]
The development came on a day when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked
airlines to waive cancellation and re-scheduling charges for passengers amid the Covid-19 crisis.
“In light of hardships faced by passengers, airlines may like to consider and take an appropriate
call, accordingly," a circular from the regulator said.

Global airline industry lobby group, International Air Transport Association (IATA), suggested
that governments across the world roll out reliefs for airlines, which have sustained losses.
“Airlines are doing their best to stay afloat as they perform the vital task of linking the world’s
economies. As governments look to stimulus measures, the airline industry will need consideration
for relief on taxes, charges and slot allocation," IATA’s director general and CEO Alexandre de
Juniac, said, adding that “these were extraordinary times".

“It is unclear how the virus will develop, but whether we see the impact contained to a few markets
and a $63 billion revenue loss, or a broader impact leading to a $113 billion loss of revenue, this
is a crisis," he said.

A spokesperson of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), an industry body comprising GoAir,
IndiGo and SpiceJet, among others, did not respond to a query.

The tourism industry has also been impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19, which has prompted
the Indian government to ban entry of foreigners till 15 April. Hotel occupancies have plummeted
since the imposition of the ban.

Subhash Goyal, chairman of the tourism committee at Assocham, also urged the government to
work out a package for the tourism industry “to save jobs and our economy from collapsing without
compromising on safety and preventive measures".

The outbreak of COVID-19 presents the tourism sector with a major and evolving challenge. While
the full extent of the outbreak’s economic ramifications is still unknown, India’s tourism and
aviation sector has been one of the first few industries to be hit. If media reports are to be believed,
this crisis is a greater threat than 9/11 and the financial meltdown of 2008-09 and India’s tourism
and aviation sector faces the peril of its very survival.

[35]
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) expects the crisis to cost the tourism sector at least
USD22 billion, with the travel sector anticipated to shrink by up to 25 per cent in 2020, resulting
in a loss of 50 million jobs

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) foresees international tourist arrivals declining by 1
to 3 per cent in 2020 globally, translating into an expected loss of USD30 billion to USD50 billion
in international visitor spending. Of this, Asia Pacific is expected to be the most affected region
with a decrease of 9 to 12 per cent in international tourist arrivals in 2020, down from growth of 5
to 6 per cent forecast in early January. According to International Air Transport Association
(IATA), 2020 global revenue loss for the passenger business is expected between USD63 billion
(11 per cent) and USD114 billion (19 per cent).

Closer home, travel and tourism contributes to around 8.1 per cent to India’s employment, or 42.7
million jobs. As per KPMG assessment, it is expected that about 10 to 15 per cent of these jobs
will shrink. Four of the top 10 countries (China, Germany, the U.S. and the U.K.) that contribute
to about 65 per cent of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India feature among the top 10 countries
reporting the maximum COVID-19 cases. Similarly, the top states contributing to domestic
tourism both in origin and destination are impacted. These states include Maharashtra, Kerala, UP,
Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The focus needs to move to encouraging domestic tourism
since international tourism will also depend on multiple factors.

Next steps

Governments around the globe are developing an action plan for revival of the tourism industry.
Countries such as Australia, France, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have announced several
measures ranging from extension of tax-collection deadlines, setting up taskforces to develop and
implement strategies to aid the tourism industry to broader stimulus packages with a focus on
boosting consumer spending and tourism.

The UNWTO, as well, has called for interventions such as the following.

Financial and political support for recovery measures targeting the tourism sector in the most
affected countries

[36]
Recovery measures and incentives to be planned and implemented in coordination with
international development and donor organisations

Tourism support to be included in the wider recovery plans and actions of affected
economies.

Based on our interaction with industry players, we believe a four-point approach needs to be
adopted by the GoI, state governments and industry players.

1. Taxes, Duties and Levies:

a. GST holiday for all travel and tourism services.

b. Waiver for the next 12 months from all state governments for the entire tourism industry,
including:

i. property and excise taxes;

ii. reduction in electricity and power tariffs;

iii. deferment of payment of all previous due GST till the COVID-19 impact exists;

iv. no new compliances that create additional burden of resources on the industry (e.g. mandatory
e-invoicing under the GST act).

c. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) needs to be brought under the ambit of GST at 12 per cent to provide
immediate relief to airlines with full input tax credit on all goods and services.

d. VAT on ATF by state governments (which ranges from 0 to 30 per cent) should be rationalised
with immediate effect to a maximum of 4 per cent across all states for the next 6 months.

e. Fuel infrastructure and into plane charges to be discontinued with immediate effect.

i. Waiver of AAI and Private Airport Operators’ Space rentals, royalty, landing, parking, route
navigation and route terminal charges for the next six months.

2. Financial support

a. All tourism entities – including airlines and hospitality – must be treated as priority sector
lending.

[37]
b. Increased credit allowance to airlines by AAI, oil companies, etc.

c. Moratorium for the next 12 months on all interest, principal amounts and covenant relaxation
for all loans, including payment of all principal and interest in airlines/hospitality/travel service
entities without limitation of size or turnover through a direction to all financial institutions. No
loan may be classified as an NPA and no collateral to be enforced or enhanced in this period of
moratorium.

d. Government funding for ventures in distress.

e. Relief funds, e.g. Kerala.

3. Promote hygiene and safety

a. Destination level hygiene and safety assessment and publication

b. Healthcare and insurance incentives

4. Media outreach

a. Campaign to promote domestic tourism.

b. Allow travelers flexibility to change their itinerary for 12 month without penalties.

c. #India welcomes you back - Develop appropriate messaging and advertising campaigns for
tourism during the crisis. Once the crisis mitigates, promote India aggressively. The Incredible
India campaign henceforth must be driven with planning assistance from industry associations, as
they will be able to give real-time pulse and need of the market.

[38]
Covid-19 impact: Tourism industry to incur Rs 1.25 trn revenue loss in 2020

Given various travel restrictions imposed by the Indian government as well as governments across
the globe, forward bookings for various conferences and leisure travel bookings to foreign
destinations have already been cancelled

The Indian tourism industry is projected to book a revenue loss of Rs 1.25 trillion in calendar 2020
as a fall out of the shutdown of hotels and suspension in flight operations after the onset and spread
of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

A study by CARE Ratings notes that the figure corresponds to a 40 per cent decline in revenue
over calendar 2019.

The report assumes the impact of the pandemic on tourism at about 50 per cent during January and
February 2020, while it may be higher at 70 per cent in March alone, following the suspension of
international flights.

During April-June, the Indian tourism industry is expected to book a revenue loss of Rs 69,400
crore, denoting a year-on-year (y-o-y) loss of 30 per cent.

[39]
“During H2 2020, assuming the virus impact subsides, we expect FTAs to still be lower affecting
the FEEs (foreign exchange earnings) by about 50 per cent to reach Rs 56,150 crore vis-à-vis Rs
112,300 crore during H2 2019," the report said.

The most visible and immediate impact of Covid-19 is seen in the hotel and tourism sector in all
its geographical segments - inbound, outbound and domestic and almost all verticals - leisure,
adventure, heritage, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions), cruise and
corporate.

Given various travel restrictions imposed by the Indian government as well as governments across
the globe, forward bookings for various conferences and leisure travel bookings to foreign
destinations have already been cancelled. In India, most of the summer holiday bookings (for the
states of Kerala, Rajasthan and Goa) have also been cancelled (about 40-50 per cent), thereby
impacting domestic tourism.

The impact on the inbound and outbound passengers is expected to be most severe in the next
couple of quarters. India’s total foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) stood at 10.9 million and the foreign
exchange earnings (FEE) stood at Rs 210,971 crore during 2019, with Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
Uttar Pradesh and Delhi accounting for about 60 per cent of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs).
However, now with travel restrictions in India for over 80 countries and most of the flights of
major airlines being suspended, along with the lockdown till March 31, 2020, the Indian domestic
as well as foreign travel and tourism industry is expected to witness a sharp negative impact in
2020.

According to the study, hotels need to revisit their capex plans as the Covid-19 impact is expected
to derail future growth.

“While certain demand is expected to be impacted on account of the ongoing Covid-19 concerns,
India is also expected to benefit from it as demand for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences
& Exhibitions) from other Asian countries is expected to be diverted to India to some extent,
benefits of which will be seen only be seen post FY21. On the back of marginally positive
sentiments for the domestic tourism and MICE, led by social and industrial activities, we expect
the momentum to pick up going forward and the industry to register a growth of about 3-5 per cent
in revenues for FY20-FY21," the study added.

[40]
 TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO TRAVELLED WORLD

A. BUSINESS
Business travel has come to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, as stay-at-home restrictions
have required companies to hold more virtual meetings. While the outbreak is not yet over, experts
have started to project a potential rebound for corporate travel.

An April poll from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) found that 98 percent of its
member companies had canceled international business trips, and 92 percent axed all or most
domestic travel. But in a May follow-up poll, more than half the respondents said they plan to
resume travel in the near future.

Those results should not come as much of a surprise, given the importance of business travel.
Certify, a corporate expense report and travel software provider, estimates that around 445 million
business trips take place each year, valued at $251 billion (the GBTA puts that number closer to
$345 billion annually for travel and meeting expenditures). An Oxford Economics study found
that each dollar invested in business travel can result in as much as $12.50 in revenue. Add it all
up, and it's a tremendous potential amount of money that corporations rely on to stay in business.

In fact, a recent survey by consulting firm Oliver Wyman found that around three-quarters of
business travelers expect to travel the same amount or even more after the pandemic, due to a
resurgence of business activity, relatively low travel costs once lockdown begin to ease, and pent-
up demand after teleconferencing for months.

Yet even as travel begins to resume, the prospect of taking a business trip is a trigger for many
workers whose main worry remains avoiding the disease. To get a better sense of how corporate
travel might change due to COVID-19, we talked to experts throughout the travel industry. Here's
what they had to say about how business travel will restart.

Business travel will rebound slowly

“Domestic business travel is likely to pick up quicker than international,” says Charuta Fadnis,
senior vice president of research at travel analytics firm Phocuswright. “But any uptick in business
travel will be dictated by prevailing economic conditions.” In previous economic crises, the travel
industry has recovered in around two to three years, she says.

[41]
Michael Steiner, executive vice president of travel management company Ovation, echoes those
predictions. “Most businesses are still in a wait-and-see mode," he says. "However, within the last
few weeks, we have seen a flurry of clients expressing a desire to hold face-to-face meetings with
clients and colleagues,” he adds, noting that U.S. domestic air travel bookings for June and July
are slowly on the rise.

Several frequent corporate travelers from various industries including retail, finance, and
entertainment—all of whom asked to speak anonymously—say business travel will eventually
resume because virtual options such as Zoom and teleconferencing are not sufficient for some of
their needs. One individual suggested mergers and acquisitions will spike in the coming quarter,
and that deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars often require an in-person handshake (or at
least, an elbow bump). Logistics are also part of it, Steiner says. “Try coordinating a global
conference and accommodating all those time zones.”

Certain industries might ramp their travel back up more quickly than others, too. “One of our
corporate clients is a medical technology company that works with labs throughout Europe and
North America,” says Vikram Seshadri, a business and luxury travel advisor with Protravel. “They
were hiring before the shutdown and expect to be traveling a lot as restrictions are lifted.” Venture
capitalists and management consultants, who might be called upon to help companies cope with
pressures from the pandemic-caused recession, will also be among the first corporate travelers to
hit the road again, he says.

Corporate travel could recover as much as 70 percent overall by this time next year, assuming a
best-case scenario, says Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging
Association. But he does not expect large meetings, conferences, and conventions to rebound more
than 50 percent before early next year. If and when they do, they could help stabilize and even
raise airfares and hotel rates. “Business travelers generate the most revenue for the travel industry,
and are less price-sensitive than leisure travelers,” Rogers says.

Cleanliness is key

Travel companies will need to implement new sanitation and hygiene measures that make being
on the road feel safe. “Safety is the new loyalty, and consumers will choose brands that prioritize

[42]
their wellbeing,” says Jennie Blumenthal, the travel, transportation, and hospitality leader for
consulting company PwC.

Corporations and employees will also have to agree upon new, so-called “duty-of-care” policies
that ensure workers’ welfare while conducting company business. “Traditionally, corporate travel
programs have focused on costs and compliance as key metrics,” says Phocuswright’s Fadnis.
“Now, however, travelers’ safety will be the top priority. Travel managers will look very closely
at their suppliers’ policies and practices around hygiene and distancing, and restrict their list of
preferred providers to those they feel most confident about.”

Corporations are going to have to factor the costs of new health policies into their travel budgets
and planning, says Dale Buckner, CEO of Global Guardian, a firm that offers security, emergency,
and medical response services. “Businesses will reevaluate whether travel is fundamentally
required," he says. "In cases where it is, a firm will have to sponsor an employee or executive to
travel knowing the risks, like that they might be burning money having to put them up at a luxury
hotel during a 14-day quarantine.”

During the last major economic downturn, many companies downgraded mid- and lower-level
executives to flying coach, but still allowed C-suiters and top brass to book business or first class.
Despite the current recession, Protravel’s Seshadri does not expect that to change. “Because of
COVID-related safety concerns, corporate travelers are going to want to be sequestered in
a business-class pod, which feels like a much safer and more private environment than your typical
economy seat," he says.

That is also just practical, according to Steiner. “Traveler comfort directly relates to productivity,”
he says. Steiner also notes that luxury properties might post room rates closer to their budget
counterparts for some time to come, too, easing the financial burden of corporate travel
departments.

Given how much airlines have slashed their schedules; some firms have also turned to charters.
“We expect to see a rise in demand for charters as businesses and cities reopen, and people have
more places they can travel to confidently,” says Alex Wilcox, the CEO of hop-on jet service JSX.
“People are going to seek alternative ways to travel, especially when it means avoiding crowded
airports and packed planes.”

[43]
Loyalty programs are even more important

In addition to promoting new public health measures, airlines and hotels will turn to their loyalty
programs to win back business travelers and their most frequent customers. “For the past half
dozen years, airlines have flown mostly full, so there hasn’t been a need to invest in loyalty
programs to fill empty seats,” says Gary Leff from the loyalty blog View from The Wing. “That
is going to change. I expect to see bonuses for travel and there will probably be promotions to earn
elite status, such as double qualifying miles, status-match offers, and possibly other new benefits
like available middle-seat blocking.”

Fadnis agrees that more benefits are on the way for business fliers. “We are likely to see more
perks being included in corporate agreements,” she says. But don’t expect these extra perks to last
too long.

“Airlines and hotels are going to be very careful how they promote added benefits to their loyalty
programs since many will be dealing with reduced inventory that may coincide with pent-up
demand when people begin traveling again,” Ovation’s Steiner says. So while travelers will
probably be able to redeem their airline miles and hotel points for plentiful reward flights and
nights in the short term, once people begin traveling in larger numbers, free travel and elite perks
might be harder to come by.

“Making the traveler feel valued and special will be the key, and that applies to all travelers,
business and leisure,” says Fadnis. When airlines and hotels can do that, while convincing people
it is safe to take trips, business travel might finally be on its way to a rebound.

The travel & tourism business especially is on its knees worldwide. Country borders are sealed.
Cities are at stand-still. Flights are grounded. Cruise ships are docked in harbours. Trains are
stationary. Buses are not plying. Hotels are shut. Restaurants are shuttered. No one knows when
the fury of the virus will abate; no vaccine is in sight; people are cloistered in their homes. Social
distancing is the new mantra. Masks and gloves are the new safety accoutrements. And no one is
even thinking of a holiday, let alone planning for one.

India attracted 10.5 million foreign visitors last year; 5 million NRIs travelled back home to be
with family and friends; 1.8 billion Indians travelled within the country for holidays, pleasure and
leisure; 26 million Indians travelled overseas for tourism. All of these statistics seem like a far cry

[44]
today. On current indications, the lockdowns & curfews may drag on till the end of this year in
varying intensities and impositions. No one really knows, or can accurately predict how all this is
going to pan out, going forward. Even if offices and restaurants re-open soon, it will take longer
for malls, gyms, theatres and other high density locations to go back on-stream. The pick-up of the
travel & tourism industry is the farthest in that chain as it is inextricably linked to the return of
normalcy, that too soonest.

India has an estimated 53,000 travel agents, 115,000 tour operators, 15,000 adventure companies,
911,000 tourist transporters, 53,000 hospitality companies and five lakh restaurants … the industry
employs an estimated 3.8 crore people. And these statistics do not include numbers for aviation
and starred hotels which are not in the medium & small enterprises count.

Actually, fear is the key. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the infection. Fear of touching someone.
Fear of being touched. Fear of being infected, and infecting family and friends. Fear of being
infected, and being far away from good healthcare. Fear of bringing back the virus from travels
overseas. Fear. More fear. And yet more fear. Actually, suspicion and fear. And that suspicion,
and that fear will take dollops of good news, on multiple fronts, over a prolonged period of time
to abate, and be totally dispelled. Till then travel & tourism are literally in the doghouse.
Let us look at 25 possible trends in the near future, each important in its own way:

1. Country borders may not be open to all for some time. The movement of people across
borders has come to a standstill in much of the world as countries have closed their borders to
visitors – and sometimes their own citizens – in response to the coronavirus outbreak. At least
nine-tenths (91%) of the world’s population, or 7.1 billion people, lives in countries with
restrictions on people arriving from other countries who are neither citizens nor residents, such as
tourists, business travelers and new immigrants. Roughly 3 billion people, or 39%, live in countries
with borders completely closed to noncitizens and nonresidents. The situation may take many
months to ease. EU is likely to have a no-entry sign till September, 2020.

2. Some geographies may become no-no for a while. Countries like Italy and Spain, even
Germany and UK, and of course the US, that have recorded large number of corona deaths may
not have too many takers for tourism in the near future. China too looks like negative territory for
now. Indians were greatly fond of travel to Europe but some of that fascination may recede because

[45]
of all the bad news that has been coming from the continent in past months. It will take a bit of
time for these countries to re-gain their charm.

3. Business travel will decrease significantly. Already Zoom meetings have become the norm.
Corporate advisories are out in most multinationals negating travel. A significant proportion of
companies are actively seeking both to reduce business travel and to cut the number of employees
commuting even to the workplace, as per research by global agency Sewells. 66% of businesses
worldwide have set targets to reduce their volume of internal travel. 60% of businesses have targets
to cut trips to suppliers. 66% of businesses have targets to lower the number of journeys to clients.
65% of businesses consider video conferencing as a viable alternative to business travel. Things
are not looking good.

4. MICE market will go into coma for a while. Most big global events … conferences, launches,
festivals, seminars, symposiums, conventions … started to get cancelled by end February itself as
the Covid panic gathered momentum. The spectator sports were the first casualties. The Olympics
got postponed by a year. IPL was cancelled. Wimbledon scrapped. And then the cascade started
… Facebook F8, Google I/O, ITB Berlin, Expo 2020, NAB Show, Geneva Motorshow … well
everything is cancelled or postponed. It is going to be a while before the enthusiasm for large
gathering events will reignite.

5. Mega events will become less attractive. The flagship events of 2020 were surely the Olympics
in Tokyo and the Expo in Dubai. Both have been pushed by a year, in the hope that the world will
limp back to normalcy by mid to late 2021. No one can tell. In any case, till a secure vaccine is
found and Covid looks conquerable, and controllable, mega world events may lose their sheen and
will be pale shadows of what they could have been.

6. Group travel will shrink. India was becoming an increasingly large group travel market
for first timers and middle class families. Both for reasons of affordability, and safety fears, this
segment is likely to shrink significantly. This summer is almost done for. Too early for winter
predictions. By the end of April, just in the US, the impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry
was expected to add up to a loss of 5.9 million jobs and US $910 billion in travel-related economic
output. That’s seven times the impact of 9/11. And it has only started. In India the picture could
be even more dismal.

[46]
7. Leisure travel too will dwindle for some time. With so much uncertainty … shut borders,
grounded flights, shuttered establishments, job losses, recessionary economy, uncertain school
terms … holidays seem a distant frontier for now. Global travel seems bleak. Domestic prospects
may be somewhat better. But the holiday mood at this point is not buoyant enough. Leisure may
find other avenues for now.

8. Lesser number of students may travel overseas to study. 753,000 Indian students were
studying in universities abroad in 2019. The number could well be closer to 800,000 this year. A
large number of them rushed home from wherever they were studying, before airports were shut
and flights suspended. Some are attending classes digitally today. Most are just twiddling their
thumbs with no clue on continuation of terms or new admissions. Many may not go back this
semester/this year. Worse, a lot of the well-heeled crowd of parents and families that invariably
travels for graduations at this time of the year will not be going anywhere.

9. Religious tourism will drop. With administrative directions on mass gatherings being issued
across states, with the detection of a COVID-19 case in Amritsar, closure of the Tirupati, Vaishno
Devi and Shirdi temples, and the calling off of Friday prayers at the Bada Imambada in Lucknow,
even the Gods are out of bounds for people. Most religious destinations saw a sharp decline in
numbers by mid-March itself: Puri, Ajmer, Coimbatore, Govardhan, Hospet, Kartarpur Saheb all
sputtered to a close as the faithful kept away. On Akshay Tritya, there were zero crowds at Kashi
Vishwanath. Globally too, pictures of Mecca circulating on the net without any Hajis, shows God
too is headed for a hiatus.

10. ‘Mature’ travelers, read retirees, will be most drastically impacted. Older folk were
becoming serious travelers over the past few years. Many retirees, having taken care of other
family responsibilities, were finally picking the many offerings of Thomas Cook, Kesari Tours
and their ilk and heading out to Andamans and Coorg at one end or choosing to do Exotic Europe
in 14 days. Their new found liberation may get heavily tempered by the fear that older humans are
more susceptible to the virus. So, better to stay home for now.

11. Tourism may look inwards, be more domestic directed. Thankfully, traditional domestic
travel destinations like Himachal, Ladakh, Goa, Uttarkhand, Andamans, even Pondicherry have
remained largely inert to the virus. So much of the honeymoon and holiday traffic may stay within
India. Which is surely a silver lining in another wise gloomy scenario. Unfortunately, Kerala and

[47]
the Golden Triangle of Delhi/Agra/Jaipur are pretty badly impacted. But in a disaster situation, as
they say, whatever gets saved from the inferno is a bonus.

12. Destination weddings may suffer a serious setback. The Virushka wedding took place just
a little over four hours south of Milan, in a historic property called Borgo Finocchieto in Tuscany,
South Italy. Deepveer were wedded at the picturesque Villa del Balbianello in Lake Como, Italy.
Not just celebrities, upper middle India was increasingly getting married in Hua Hin, Koh Samui
and Krabi in Thailand … 800 weddings in 2019 alone in Siam … while the rich were headed to
Marrakesh, Stellenbosch, Seychelles, Cinigiano and the likes of Soufriere in St. Lucia. Well, much
of this euphoria is likely to ebb. That’s good news though for Udaipur (much of Rajasthan
actually), Goa, Kerala and the likes of Neemrana and Ananda-in-the-Hills.

13. School trips will dry up. This was an emerging market for some years now, especially with
rich kids headed to ‘study’ tours courtesy indulgent parents and status-driven hoity-toity schools.
Looks like this extravagance is going to get curtailed out of fear for safety of the kids, rather than
affordability.

14. Nature will triumph. In all likelihood, nature and wildlife will be preferred over monuments
and history in the months ahead. So, the hills, the sea resorts, wild life reserves and slightly isolated
locations will win over crowded favourites of yore. This may benefit all the camping and outdoor
brands of ITC Hotels, Taj and Oberoi. And AirBnB accommodations, and homestays.

15. Air travel will become more expensive. With the government likely to mandate that the
middle seat in economy be left empty to maintain social distancing, airline tickets are headed
northwards. However, if demand falls dramatically, airlines may not be able to push up prices
(some say a 50% hike is likely). In fact, travel insurance will get costlier too. But with 33% people
less to carry, many airlines may allow higher baggage allowance as a sop to attract and retain
customers.

16. Airports will be less crowded. Which is not such good news for many brands in F&B,
lifestyle, electronics and more which were getting reasonably large volumes from retailing at
airports. But for flyers, lesser crowded airports may still not make flying more pleasurable as
health-checks may get added to check-in routines, enhancing the wait at airports.

[48]
17. Luxury hotels may come cheaper. With demand likely to remain sluggish for some time
ahead, the luxury segment may have no choice but to reduce tariffs. Lower occupancies and lower
room rates will be a double whammy for the starred chains. Tough!

18. Cruises may be shunned for a while. This sector is heavily impacted globally. Even the
Trump package in the US has not benefitted the cruise liners because most of them were entities
registered in tax-havens. So, the cruise business is in really big trouble. Indians have been checking
out cruises in South East Asia, the Caribbean and to Alaska in reasonably large numbers. That
flow is going to move into negative territory for some time.

19. Road-trips may find greater favour. Families and youngsters are likely to opt for more of
drive-outs, especially on long weekends and for short vacations. So, near-city travel is likely to
see an uptick. Such vacationers may not however be high-ticket customers; more likely to be
budget travelers looking for clean comfort and hygiene rather than frills and luxury.

20. ‘Hometown’ tripping will a big segment. It may not make much money for the travel trade,
but dwindling of travel options elsewhere will push up the ‘hometown’ travel quite significantly.
Hotels will have nothing to gain, and much of the travel may be by bus or train, but in terms of
volume, this is going to account for a substantial chunk in the days ahead … travel to go visit old
parents, and connect with family.

21. Food & Beverage consumption will be impacted. It goes without saying that with low
occupancies in hotels, and general dive in travel, F&B will take a significant hit. Restaurants will
see diminished business due to social distancing. And banqueting will face challenging times with
weddings becoming smaller and the conference business going into slow gear.

22. ‘Adventure’ in food & travel may take a nosedive. In the US already ‘Asian’ food has taken
a serious beating. There ‘Asian’ largely means Chinese food. And most Americans are avoiding
‘Asian’ cuisine … not really as a protest, but because perhaps President Trump keeps emphasizing
the ‘Chinese Virus’ and that is starting to impact minds! Well, in India too some of the ‘adventure’
in food may diminish.

23. Experiences will prevail over the physical. The lockdown, and the prolonged stay indoors
has helped most people introspect. Most have decided to slow down or pursue passions long
forgotten. So, cycling vacations, sailing, walking tours, hiking, fishing … lots of the simple

[49]
pleasures may surface as reasons to holiday, but holiday differently. Health farms, spas, nature
villages … these are all newer opportunities for those in the travel business to pivot to.

24. Shopping will suffer serious setback. Indians are known to be shopaholics. The reason
Bangkok, Dubai and the like are favourite destinations are not just because of the sight-seeing, but
because of the shopping. Even group travelers travelling on Indian tours to Europe actually get
exclusive time to shop. With travel itself getting curtailed, the shopping binges will also have to
recede till better times.

25. Customer will have more choice, more flexibility. While business was booming over the
past few years, many service providers had started to become arrogant and inflexible. Indigo
airlines, for example, had started to charge for almost everything, except the water served in a
paper tumbler, and for the loo. Some of that is likely to change: airlines and hotels are likely to be
more accommodating on postponements, cancellation, early check-ins, late check-outs especially
for loyalty customers. So upgrades, extras and freebies would be welcome surprises at many places
that had forgotten the true meaning of ‘hospitality’.

Key factors, however, in the overall travel scenario that will drive all of the above trends will be:

1. Safety: both perception and reality will matter

2. Health: government may introduce mandatory checks

3. Hygiene: There will be no compromise on this

4. Brands: Those that will stand for quality will win

5. Value: Good value for good money will be the new mantra

Back to Future Shock, and ‘too much change in too short a period of time’, Toffler said back then
50 years ago that ‘copability’ will be more important in the future than ‘capability’. In the Covid
19 pandemic too, it is the ability to cope with change, cope with the new normal, that will separate
the men from the boys. The business may take anything between 9 to 24 months to start climbing
back to previous peaks. Till then the headwinds will be strong and severe. Some will succeed,
some will struggle, some will perish.

[50]
B. CO-ORPORATE

Amid the nationwide lockdown till May 3 to combat the coronavirus outbreak, SpiceJet Ltd.
Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said that it is the right time to bring about structural
reforms in the country’s aviation sector. “Bringing aviation turbine fuel is a long pending request...
Second thing we need to look at this whole structure of airports and the way the airport concessions
are given,” the chairman and managing director of the budget airline said at a webinar organised
by the Bird group.

If an airline puts fuel in an airport's tank - which costs around Rs 25 crore in Delhi to build - the
airport operator recovers Rs 450 crore per year, he mentioned.

Many airlines in India are close to bankruptcy as their cash reserves are running out amid the
nationwide lockdown, industry body FICCI had told Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman through a letter earlier this month.

Almost all the Indian airlines, including SpiceJet, have introduced cost cutting measures such as
pay cuts and leave without pay to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Singh said at the webinar that normally, a bid to operate an airport is won by the person who can
give the Airports Authority of India the highest amount of money.

However, cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special
flights have been permitted to operate by Indian aviation regulator DGCA.
"We have seen how countries protect their own carriers. Today, when we go to the Middle East,
we are told clearly that we are not welcome. And the middle-eastern carriers keep pushing the
Indian government to try to get more and more of their flights into India," Singh said.
"The same happens in China. So, we need to be clear what our long term objective is. So, if our
objective really is that we have global airlines made in India, and we have global hubs in India, we
need to get our policies right. This is the right time to debate this and bring structural reforms in
our system," he mentioned.

[51]
TOURISTS

Updated WHO recommendations for international traffic in relation to COVID-19 outbreak

On 30 January 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, following the advice
of the Emergency Committee convened under the International Health Regulations (2005),
declared the current outbreak of COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern
and issued Temporary Recommendations. The Committee asked the Director-General to provide
further advice on these matters and, if necessary, to make new case-by-case recommendations, in
view of this rapidly evolving situation.

Affected areas

“Affected areas” are considered those countries, provinces, territories or cities experiencing
ongoing transmission of COVID-19, in contrast to areas reporting only imported cases. As of 27
February 2020, although China, particularly the Province of Hubei, has experienced sustained local
transmission and has reported by far the largest number of confirmed cases since the beginning of
the outbreak, lately the situation in China showed a significant decrease in cases. At the same time,
an increasing number of countries, other than China, have reported cases, including through local
transmission of COVID-19. As the epidemic evolves, it will be expected that many areas may
detect imported cases and local transmission of COVID-19. WHO is publishing daily situation
reports on the evolution of the outbreak.

The outbreaks reported so far have occurred primarily within clusters of cases exposed through
close-contacts, within families or special gathering events. COVID-19 is primarily transmitted
through droplets from, and close contact with, infected individuals. Control measures that focus
on prevention, particularly through regular hand washing and cough hygiene, and on active
surveillance for the early detection and isolation of cases, the rapid identification and close
monitoring of persons in contacts with cases, and the rapid access to clinical care, particularly for
severe cases, are effective to contain most outbreaks of COVID-19.

[52]
Recommendations for international traffic

WHO continues to advise against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries
experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks.

In general, evidence shows that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health
emergencies is ineffective in most situations and may divert resources from other interventions.
Furthermore, restrictions may interrupt needed aid and technical support, may disrupt businesses,
and may have negative social and economic effects on the affected countries. However, in certain
circumstances, measures that restrict the movement of people may prove temporarily useful, such
as in settings with few international connections and limited response capacities.

Travel measures that significantly interfere with international traffic may only be justified at the
beginning of an outbreak, as they may allow countries to gain time, even if only a few days, to
rapidly implement effective preparedness measures. Such restrictions must be based on a careful
risk assessment, be proportionate to the public health risk, be short in duration, and be reconsidered
regularly as the situation evolves.

Travel bans to affected areas or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas are
usually not effective in preventing the importation of cases but may have a significant economic
and social impact. Since WHO declaration of a public health emergency of international concern
in relation to COVID-19, and as of 27 February, 38 countries have reported to WHO additional
health measures that significantly interfere with international traffic in relation to travel to and
from China or other countries, ranging from denial of entry of passengers, visa restrictions or
quarantine for returning travellers. Several countries that denied entry of travellers or who have
suspended the flights to and from China or other affected countries, are now reporting cases of
COVID-19.

Temperature screening alone, at exit or entry, is not an effective way to stop international spread,
since infected individuals may be in incubation period, may not express apparent symptoms early
on in the course of the disease, or may dissimulate fever through the use of antipyretics; in addition,
such measures require substantial investments for what may bear little benefits. It is more effective
to provide prevention recommendation messages to travellers and to collect health declarations at

[53]
arrival, with travellers’ contact details, to allow for a proper risk assessment and a possible contact
tracing of incoming travellers.

Recommendations for international travellers

It is prudent for travellers who are sick to delay or avoid travel to affected areas, in particular for
elderly travellers and people with chronic diseases or underlying health conditions.

General recommendations for personal hygiene, cough etiquette and keeping a distance of at least
one metre from persons showing symptoms remain particularly important for all travellers. These
include:

• Perform hand hygiene frequently, particularly after contact with respiratory secretions.
Hand hygiene includes either cleaning hands with soap and water or with an alcohol-based
hand rub. Alcohol-based hand rubs are preferred if hands are not visibly soiled; wash hands
with soap and water when they are visibly soiled;
• Cover your nose and mouth with a flexed elbow or paper tissue when coughing or sneezing
and disposing immediately of the tissue and performing hand hygiene;
• Refrain from touching mouth and nose;
• A medical mask is not required if exhibiting no symptoms, as there is no evidence that
wearing a mask – of any type – protects non-sick persons. However, in some cultures,
masks may be commonly worn. If masks are to be worn, it is critical to follow best practices
on how to wear, remove and dispose of them and on hand hygiene after removal
(see Advice on the use of masks)

As for any travel, travellers are also advised to follow proper food hygiene practices, including the
five keys for food safety, as well as recommendations to reduce the risk of transmission of
emerging pathogens from animals to human in live markets.

Travellers returning from affected areas should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days and follow
national protocols of receiving countries. Some countries may require returning travellers to enter
quarantine. If symptoms occur, such as fever, or cough or difficulty breathing, travellers are
advised to contact local health care providers, preferably by phone, and inform them of their
symptoms and their travel history. For travellers identified at points of entry, it is recommended to

[54]
follow WHO advice for the management of travellers at points of entry. Guidance on treatment of
sick passengers on board of airplanes is available on ICAO and IATA websites. Key
considerations for planning of large mass gathering events are also available on WHO’s website.
Operational considerations for managing COVID-19 cases on board of ships has also been
published.

For countries which decide to repatriate nationals from affected areas, they should consider the
following to avoid further spread of COVID-19: exit screening shortly before flight; risk
communication to travellers and crew; infection control supplies for voyage; crew preparedness
for possibility of sick passenger in flight; entry screening on arrival and close follow-up for 14
days after arrival. (WHO recommendations to reduce risk of transmission of emerging pathogens
from animals to humans in live animal markets)

General recommendations to all countries

Countries should intensify surveillance for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe
pneumonia and monitor carefully the evolution of COVID-19 outbreaks, reinforcing
epidemiological surveillance. Countries should continue to enhance awareness through effective
risk communication concerning COVID-19 to the general public, health professionals, and policy
makers, and to avoid actions that promote stigma or discrimination. Countries should share with
WHO all relevant information needed to assess and manage COVID-19 in a timely manner, as
required by the International Health Regulations (2005).

Countries are reminded of the purpose of the International Health Regulations to prevent, protect
against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways
that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary
interference with international traffic and trade. Countries implementing additional health
measures which significantly interfere with international traffic are required to provide to WHO,
within 48 hours of implementation, the public health rationale and relevant scientific information
for the measures implemented. WHO shall share this information with other States Parties.
Significant interference generally means refusal of entry or departure of international travellers,
baggage, cargo, containers, conveyances, goods, and the like, or their delay, for more than 24
hours.

[55]
WHO continues to engage with its Member States, as well as with international organizations and
industries, to enable implementation of travel-related health measures that are commensurate with
the public health risks, are effective and are implemented in ways which avoid unnecessary
restrictions of international traffic during the COVID-19 outbreak.

[56]
 CHAPTER 2

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Impact on Global Aviation industry due to COVID-19 Pandemic, Deviation & Trends Analysis
Report: Segmentation (Passenger Airlines, Cargo Airlines, Aircraft manufacturing companies,
Airports managing companies, and Catering & other service providing companies) and Forecast
2019-2025.

Global Aviation Industry is concerned with the manufacturing and operations of all types of
aircraft and related services during transportation. According to the World Bank Organization, in
2018, around 4.2 billion passengers were carried around all across the globe. Factors that were
driving the aviation industry before the COVID-19 pandemic include increasing disposable
income all across the globe, the introduction of low-fare airlines, increasing global economic
activities, new travel trends, and many more. Moreover, replacement of aging commercial aircraft
has also contributed significantly to the market growth.

The key factors affecting the aviation industry after the pandemic include the decline in tours and
travels as a large number of international as well as domestic flights are getting cancelled all across
the globe to curb the transmission of the virus. The government all across the globe are cancelling
the visa of foreign people and locking down affected area which is also one of the major reason
behind the slowing down of the aviation industry.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• A detailed and extensive study on how COVID-19 has impacted the aviation industry.
• An exhaustive analysis of macro and micro factors influencing HR Practices of aviation
industry by key recommendations.
• Analysis of regional COVID-19 situation and other government policies impacting the
global aviation industry.
• To analyse the changes in HR Practices adopted by aviation companies considering
COVID.

[57]
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study on the aviation industry is incorporated by extensive primary and secondary research
conducted by the research team. In secondary research, different approaches have been adopted to
derive the market value, market growth rate and analyze trends in the industry due to the COVID-
19 pandemic. In the report, the analysis of the country is provided by analyzing various regional
players, laws &policies, consumer behavior, macro-economic factors and impact of the pandemic.

Numbers extracted from secondary research have been authenticated by conducting proper
primary research. It includes tracking down key people from the industry and interviewing them
to validate the data. This enables the analyst to derive the closest possible figures. Besides, an
expected recovery timeline of the industry will also be provided with the best- and worst-case
scenario which will aid the companies to take their future steps in the global aviation industry.

LIMITATIONS OF THE SUDY

1. The project relied mainly on the primary data.

2. Consumer gives very unclear picture.
3. The study is based on limited sample.
4. It begins my first attempt to undertake such a study, thus the inexperience is also an
obstacle to accomplish the project in a proper way.
5. The main limitation was time. There was problem to contacting the businessmen and
servicemen due to shortage of time with them.
6. The data is collected from the consumer is qualitative in nature. i.e. views, opinions and
perceptions. These factors may be changed from time to time.

[58]
 CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

At a time of great uncertainty and rapid change in many industries, aviation stands out as one of
the fastest growing and most dynamic sectors in the global economy. With the industry landscape
shifting constantly, the momentum of this change looks set to accelerate in size and scope, calling
for a new generation of air transport leaders. To stay ahead of the game, airline CEOs need to be
able to think in possible scenarios and rapidly adapt their business models to changing market
conditions while providing their organizations with clear guidance. Most importantly, they will
need to ensure that they have the right leadership qualities on board and that they adopt appropriate
talent management practices.

According to a survey of key decision-makers in human capital across the worldwide air transport
industry conducted by Egon Zehnder together with IATA in October 2011, the overwhelming
majority of respondents do not feel able to predict the management skills required in the future.
Moreover, 56 percent believe that the existing internal pool of talent is not sufficient in size and
quality to supply future leaders who possess the competences described above. While quality of
leadership has become an important differentiating success factor in the air transport industry,
many players are still struggling to master the pivotal management mission of identifying and
developing leadership talent. To bring about necessary changes, HR leaders should prepare for a
role in the co-driver seat.

Challenges in leadership development

Although continuity in leadership has proven a strong asset in the complex air transport industry
in the past, there is now widespread belief that today’s market calls for a new type of leader.
Indeed, 95 percent of respondents see a strong shift in leadership competencies against a
background of severe competitiveness and accelerated change dynamics in the airline industry.
Gaps in leadership competencies are perceived, for example, in areas such as change leadership or
innovative thinking. To close these gaps, strengthening the internal talent pipeline through holistic,
highly professional talent management as well as recruiting external top performers is widely
considered a promising way of bringing fresh thinking and experience into the industry.

[59]
However, the survey revealed that current talent management systems are still very much focused
on silo functional careers, with limited practice of senior talent gaining new experience by crossing
functions or even sectors. Many of the HR experts surveyed also foresee problems related to
recruiting leaders from outside aviation. Indeed, 70 percent do not think that leaders from the non-
airline sector would make it to a senior position. On top of internal resistance to outsiders,
participants also report that the airline industry’s image as an employer has suffered in recent years.
Furthermore, aviation is widely perceived as uncompetitive in terms of compensation versus other
leading industries, which makes it much harder to attract top outside talent. As many as 80 percent
of respondents nevertheless consider it a key priority to increase cross-industry and professional
diversity in their talent pool. Unfortunately, however, many airline & travel companies currently
fail to manage diversity – be it professional, international, cultural, demographic or gender-based
– in a systematic and business-oriented manner.

HR's role in developing a new generation of leaders

Human resources leaders can play the role of strategic architects and advocators of cultural change,
aligning strategic business priorities with future talent needs in terms of experience, competencies
and personal qualities.

Although most CEOs recognize the ability of HR leaders to drive cultural change and foster a new
generation of leadership talent, most HR executives currently lack the influence required to
implement substantial changes. Only 33 percent of respondents said that the HR function already
acts as a driver of change and a strategic business partner. Other industries have shown that a
strong thought partnership between CEOs and HR leaders often lead to positive changes. To move
into the co-driver seat for the major transformations ahead in this fast-changing industry, HR needs
to play a leadership role in talent strategies. Perhaps more importantly, however, aviation needs to
open up to external recruitment and implement the onboarding procedures necessary to integrate
leaders from diverse backgrounds.

[60]
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) updated its analysis of the financial impact of
the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency on the global air transport industry.
IATA now sees 2020 global revenue losses for the passenger business of between $63 billion (in
a scenario where COVID-19 is contained in current markets with over 100 cases as of 2 March)
and $113 billion (in a scenario with a broader spreading of COVID-19). No estimates are yet
available for the impact on cargo operations.

IATA’s previous analysis (issued on 20 February 2020) put lost revenues at $29.3 billion based
on a scenario that would see the impact of COVID-19 largely confined to markets associated with
China. Since that time, the virus has spread to over 80 countries and forward bookings have been
severely impacted on routes beyond China.

Financial markets have reacted strongly. Airline share prices have fallen nearly 25% since the
outbreak began, some 21 percentage points greater than the decline that occurred at a similar point
during the SARS crisis of 2003. To a large extent, this fall already prices in a shock to industry
revenues much greater than our previous analysis.

To take into account the evolving situation with COVID-19, IATA estimated the potential impact
on passenger revenues based on two possible scenarios:

Scenario 1: Limited Spread

This scenario includes markets with more than 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases (as of 2 March)
experiencing a sharp downturn followed by a V-shaped recovery profile. It also estimates falls in
consumer confidence in other markets (North America, Asia Pacific and Europe).

The markets accounted for in this scenario and their anticipated fall in passenger numbers, due to
COVID-19, as are as follows: China (-23%), Japan (-12%), Singapore (-10%), South Korea (-
14%), Italy (-24%), France (-10%), Germany (-10%), and Iran (-16%). Additionally, Asia
(excluding China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea) would be expected to see an 11% fall in
demand. Europe (excluding Italy, France and Germany) would see a 7% fall in demand and Middle
East (excluding Iran) would see a 7% fall in demand.

[61]
Globally, this fall in demand translates to an 11% worldwide passenger revenue loss equal to $63
billion. China would account for some $22 billion of this total. Markets associated with Asia
(including China) would account for $47 billion of this total.

Scenario 2: Extensive Spread

This scenario applies a similar methodology but to all markets that currently have 10 or more
confirmed COVID-19 cases (as of 2 March). The outcome is a 19% loss in worldwide passenger
revenues, which equates to $113 billion. Financially, that would be on a scale equivalent to what
the industry experienced in the Global Financial Crisis.

IMPACT ON IMPACT ON
MARKET PASSENGER PASSENGER
NUMBERS REVENUES

Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South -23% -$49.7

Korea, Thailand, Vietnam billion

Rest of Asia Pacific -9% -$7.6

billion

Austria, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, -24% -$37.3

Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom billion

Rest of Europe -9% -$6.6

billion

[62]
 IMPACT ON IMPACT ON
MARKET PASSENGER PASSENGER
NUMBERS REVENUES

Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, the -23% -$4.9

billion
United Arab Emirates

Rest of Middle East -9% -$2.3

billion

Canada and US -10% -$21.1

billion

Note: Revenue loss figures are not additive due to overlaps of some markets, e.g., revenues for
China and Germany both contain the revenues for the China-Germany market. Revenues are base
fare revenues for all airlines flying to, from and within the country.

Africa and Latin America/Caribbean regions are not explicitly included in this market-based
analysis, because there are currently no countries in either region with at least 10 COVID-19 cases.

Mitigation

Oil prices have fallen significantly (-$13/barrel Brent) since the beginning of the year. This could
cut costs up to $28 billion on the 2020 fuel bill (on top of those savings which would be achieved
as a result of reduced operations) which would provide some relief but would not significantly
cushion the devastating impact that COVID-19 is having on demand. And it should be noted that
hedging practices will postpone this impact for many airlines.

Impact

“The turn of events as a result of COVID-19 is almost without precedent. In little over two months,
the industry’s prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. It is unclear

[63]
how the virus will develop, but whether we see the impact contained to a few markets and a $63
billion revenue loss, or a broader impact leading to a $113 billion loss of revenue, this is a crisis.

“Many airlines are cutting capacity and taking emergency measures to reduce costs. Governments
must take note. Airlines are doing their best to stay afloat as they perform the vital task of linking
the world’s economies. As governments look to stimulus measures, the airline industry will need
consideration for relief on taxes, charges and slot allocation. These are extraordinary times,” said
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

The impact of the Corona virus pandemic will be felt by organisations beyond six months,
according to the findings of a survey conducted by professional services firm EY.

The survey, which incorporates first-hand perspective of human resource heads of over 100
organisations across sectors in India on the impact of COVID-19, showed that while the COVID-
19 impact can be felt by organisations across sectors, 72% of the organisations stated that its impact
will be felt even after six months.

The survey titled ‘HR resilience planning - COVID-19 impact and preparedness’ showed that
around 70% of the organisations believe that the single biggest concern for continued remote
working is fall in productivity.

Today, organisations are grappling with an unprecedented crisis that is fundamentally different
from what they have ever experienced. In this hour of crisis, the HR function has to be a business
partner in anticipating change, co-creating a range of scenarios and planning for the future,”
Anurag Malik, Partner and India Workforce Advisory Leader, People Advisory Services, EY India
said. “It is also the right time for the HR Heads to recalibrate their priorities, focus towards
managing remote The crisis is also forcing organisations to re-look at the HR processes and
operations through a digital lens. More than 70% of the organizations are now moving to virtual
methods of recruitment, and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process
Automation and Machine Learning are leading this change.

The crisis is also forcing organisations to re-look at the HR processes and operations through a
digital lens. More than 70% of the organizations are now moving to virtual methods of recruitment,
and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation and Machine
Learning are leading this change.

[64]
“Initial priorities of IT infrastructure, basic communication and operations support are now fading
into the background as new priorities emerge,” said Gopal Nagpaul, Partner, Workforce Advisory
(Africa, India and Middle East), People Advisory Services, EY India.

“Going forward, we need to focus on sustaining productivity in the context of remote working &
shutdowns, ensuring wellbeing & engagement in case of sustained remote working, and building
cost management options in case we face a deeper economic downturn,” he added.

Around 87% of the respondents currently have travel restrictions in place in addition to the
mandated ones. At this time of crisis, organizations must adopt to the changing ways of working,
and invest in the right IT infrastructure and build in structured mechanisms to institutionalize
remote working, showed the survey findings.

Organizations that were not accustomed to virtual working have faced the heat and have had to
mobilize IT infrastructure and set up data security protocols at a very short notice
According to the survey, ensuring workforce productivity while working remotely is a concern
area. “Organizations will need to focus on building work alignment and work control through a
structured work allocation and communication protocol. Providing meaningful work to employees,
increased focus on business improvement and transformation initiatives, and e-learning and
certifications can be explored in this time of crisis,” said Nagpaul.

An important dimension that organizations will have to consider is the psychological impact of the
crisis on their employees, stated the survey. While some organizations have started virtual yoga
and psychological counselling sessions, a holistic approach to employee wellness will be
imperative.

“Going forward, the opportunities for organizations lie in institutionalizing digital ways of
working, rethinking workforce models and resource plans, revamping traditional employee
engagement models and techniques, redesigning the performance management process and
restructuring benefits and policies,” said Malik.

Most organizations agreed that in the near term, one of the most impacted processes will be talent
acquisition.

[65]
From a medium-term perspective, organisations need to focus on business continuity (i.e.
reviewing hiring pipeline, prioritizing critical positions and high cost replacements to be
reconsidered) and smarter ways of delivering work (i.e. leveraging gig economy for workforce
rationalization and agility, talent redeployment and job rotations). However, from a long-term
perspective, role profiling & workforce alignment and technology adoption will be two key aspects
for organizations to consider.

Nearly 55% of the organizations foresee medium to significant impact on employee cost, while
others are still unclear. Many organizations have adopted an employee centric view and trying to
protect the junior management, a few are also offering additional pay-outs, hazard pay to support
their workforce through these tough times.

The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 are continuously evolving. We’ll be updating this page
regularly with breaking news to help APEX members and others stay up-to-date on how the novel
coronavirus is impacting the aviation industry. You can also subscribe to the APEX Daily
Experience to receive the latest coronavirus updates and other industry news in your inbox.

Since three US airports began screening for the coronavirus in late January, APEX Media has been
covering all coronavirus-related developments affecting the aviation industry. Our sources range
from exclusive insights courtesy of our extensive network of members to stories reported by
trusted media outlets.

Qatar Airways Makes Face Shields Mandatory for Passengers

Qatar Airways announced today that passengers are required to wear face shields as well as masks,
in flight. Travelers will be handed disposable shields at either the check-in desk or boarding gate,
depending on the airport, and a smaller size will be provided for children. On board, passengers
will receive a kit including a mask, gloves and hand sanitiser. Cabin crew will wear disposable
protective gowns over their uniforms, in addition to safety glasses, gloves and a mask. Yesterday,
the airline reinstated 11 destinations worldwide, including Los Angeles, Edinburgh and Berlin. By
mid-July, the airline’s network will include 430 weekly flights to more than 65 destinations.

[66]
United Defends Decision to Stop Blocking Middle Seats

“When it comes to blocking middle seats, that’s a PR strategy, that’s not a safety strategy,” United
chief communications officer Josh Earnest reportedly said on a conference call. Earnest argued
that, even if the middle seat is blocked, passengers are still within six feet of each other. United
and American Airlines recently decided to return to selling all available seats, while most other
US airlines are limiting capacity due to COVID-19. United will add nearly 25,000 domestic and
international flights in August, representing triple the amount of flights in June, but only 40% of
flights compared to last August.

Delta Expands Work with Mayo Clinic, Brings Back Alcohol on Some Flights

“Mayo Clinic experts are helping … to assess safety procedures, consulting on how to improve
safeguards in place to protect you and designing COVID-19 testing for our full workforce,” Delta
Air Lines’ CEO Ed Bastian said in an e-mail update to customers. He continued on to say that
employee testing has already begun and will soon be expanded. In the same e-mail, Bastian also
reiterated Delta’s commitment to fighting racism. In other news, the carrier is reintroducing single-
serve beer and wines starting today for first-class and Comfort+ passengers on flights covering
over 500 miles.

Iberia, Star Alliance Enhance Safety Measures

Iberia has introduced new hygiene measures alongside its summer schedule to 50 short- and
medium-haul European destinations. Passengers will be required to sign a declaration of health on
check-in, before completing a health form and questionnaire in flight. Passengers are also being
encouraged to check their hand luggage free of charge to avoid unnecessary movement around the
cabin. Star Alliance’s 26 airline members have agreed to adopt the same health and safety
measures, which include providing passengers with hygiene kits and requiring or recommending
face masks. The alliance has also developed a Travel Information Hub on its website to provide
information about the measures.

Airbus Cuts 15,000 Staff Amid 40% Drop in Aircraft Demand

Citing the “gravest crisis [the] industry has ever experienced,” Airbus chief executive, Guillaume
Faury announced a slew of layoffs that will affect 15,000 Airbus employees, mostly concentrated

[67]
in France and Germany but affecting sites around the world. The move was spurred by the
company’s estimate that aviation’s full recovery would not occur before 2023 and may take place
as late as 2025. “We must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as
a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers,”
said Faury. Airbus, whose commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by close to 40% in
recent months, will rely on voluntary departures, early retirement and long term partial
unemployment schemes where appropriate.

CDC Director Criticizes American Airlines for Ending Seat Blocking Policy

During a Senate hearing, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield
testified that the organization was “disappointed” with American Airlines’ decision to stop
blocking the sale of middle seats, adding that the CDC doesn’t believe it sends the right message.
AA is allowing passengers of full planes to switch flights if they choose, and believes that its multi-
layered strategy to traveler safety – which includes required face coverings, enhanced cleaning
procedures, and a pre-flight COVID-19 symptom checklist – is adequate. United Airlines is
following a similar approach, while Delta Air Lines, Southwest, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines are
all limiting capacity. Alaska announced it will issue “yellow cards” to passengers who refuse to
wear a mask, putting them at risk of suspension of future travel.

Delta Continues Seat Blocking While Others Drop the Measure

Delta Air Lines revealed that it would continue to block middle seats and limit capacity until
September 30 in an effort to offer “the highest standards in safety and cleanliness.” But last month,
IATA deemed it safe for airlines to return to maximum capacity and encouraged implementing a
multi-layered safety strategy that begins at the airport. American Airlines will stop blocking seats
beginning July 1, but will allow customers who wish to move to a more open flight to do so for
free. Air Canada and WestJet will also begin filling planes to capacity on July 1. In a recent
meeting between airline executives and Vice-President Mike Pence, the Trump
administration would not commit to mandating and performing temperature checks for all air
travelers.

[68]
Airlines Use Google Search Data to Plan Routes During Recovery

Google’s popularity as a travel search engine allows airlines to harness its data on consumer intent
via the Google Flights Reporting Center. Now, Google is offering a new tool called Demand
Explorer that provides a market-wide view of consumer intent based on general flight searches,
and airlines like Air France and Lufthansa are adding it to their arsenal of market research tools.
“Understanding demand across the globe at route-level allows us to make informed decisions about
which routes we will restart first,” said Maximilian Vietmeier, manager of Online Strategy at
Lufthansa Group. Julien Mallard, e-acquisition director at Air France, added that it allows the
company’s revenue management, sales and network planning divisions to anticipate market
recovery

Slow Uptick in Travel Spells Trouble for Some Airlines, Opportunity for Others

Yesterday Sabre provided a snapshot of the progress being made in the recovery of travel. Gross
bookings for June are down 85% year-over-year, compared with 90% during April and May. For
some airlines, the damage is unmanageable. Chile-based ONE Airlines has been forced to shutter
its business, and low-cost Thai carrier NokScoot is entering liquidation after six years of flying.
On the positive side, Emirates is resuming service to Athens, Osaka, Rome and Tokyo in July,
growing its current network to 48 cities. Next month will also see Easyjet operate around 500
flights per day, Volaris prepare for a 15% bump in capacity and Egyptair resume non-stop flights
to 29 global destinations.

Passengers Who Fail Temperature Checks Will Receive Refunds: A4A

Airlines for America (A4A) member carriers will provide refunds to any traveler who fails the
TSA’s temperature screening procedure. Last month, A4A voiced its support for temperature
screening, as it helps protect the health of travelers and staff while restoring confidence in air
travel.

Updated WHO advice for international traffic in relation to the outbreak of the novel
coronavirus 2019-nCoV

This is an update to the WHO advice in relation to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus nCoV,
published by WHO on 10 January 2020. For details about the current outbreak in China and the

[69]
exported cases, please refer to the Diseases Outbreak News and the situation reports published by
WHO.

So far, the main clinical signs and symptoms reported in this outbreak include fever, difficulty in
breathing, and chest radiographs showing bilateral lung infiltrates. As of 27 January 2020, human-
to-human transmission has been confirmed largely in Wuhan city, but also some other places in
China and internationally. Not enough is known about the epidemiology of 2019-nCoV to draw
definitive conclusions about the full clinical features of disease, the intensity of the human-to-
human transmission, and the original source of the outbreak.

International travelers: practice usual precautions

Coronaviruses are a large family of respiratory viruses that can cause diseases ranging from the
common cold to the Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). In case of symptoms suggestive of acute respiratory illness before,
during or after travel, the travellers are encouraged to seek medical attention and share travel
history with their health care provider.

Public health authorities should provide to travellers information to reduce the general risk of acute
respiratory infections, via health practitioners, travel health clinics, travel agencies, conveyance
operators and at Points of Entry. Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) advice for the public published
on the WHO website contains WHO standard recommendations for the general public to reduce
exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses, to protect yourself and others from getting
sick, to stay healthy while travelling.

WHO technical guidance on surveillance and case definitions, laboratory guidance, clinical
management for suspected novel coronavirus, home care for patients with suspected novel
coronavirus, infection prevention and control, risk communications, disease commodity package,
and reducing transmission from animals to humans is available on the WHO website.

Health measures related to international traffic

The current outbreak originated in Wuhan city, which is a major domestic and international
transport hub. Given the large population movements, and the observed human to human
transmission, it is not unexpected that new confirmed cases will continue to appear in other areas

[70]
and countries. With the information currently available for the novel coronavirus, WHO advises
that measures to limit the risk of exportation or importation of the disease should be implemented,
without unnecessary restrictions of international traffic.

Advice for exit screening in countries or areas with ongoing transmission of the novel
coronavirus 2019-nCoV (currently People’s Republic of China)

Conduct exit screening at international airports and ports in the affected areas, with the aims early
detection of symptomatic travellers for further evaluation and treatment, and thus prevent
exportation of the disease. while minimizing interference with international traffic;

Exit screening includes checking for signs and symptoms (fever above 38°, cough), interview of
passengers with respiratory infection symptoms leaving the affected areas with regards to potential
exposure to high-risk contacts or to the presumed animal source, directing symptomatic travellers
to further medical examination, followed by testing for 2019-nCoV, and keeping confirmed cases
under isolation and treatment;

Encourage screening at domestic airports, railway stations, and long-distance bus stations as
necessary; Travellers who had contact with confirmed cases or direct exposure to potential source
of infection should be placed under medical observation. High-risk contacts should avoid travel
for the duration of the incubation period (up to 14 days);

Implement health information campaigns at Points of Entry to raise awareness of reducing the
general risk of acute respiratory infections and the measures required, should a traveller develop
signs and symptoms suggestive of infection with the 2019-nCoV and how they can obtain
assistance.

Advice for entry screening in countries/areas without transmission of the novel coronavirus
2019-nCoV that choose to perform entry screening

The evidence from the past outbreaks shows that effectiveness of entry screening is uncertain, but
it may support risk communication strategy by providing information to travellers from affected
countries/areas to reduce the general risk of acute respiratory infections, and to seek medical
attention early if they develop symptoms compatible with the infection.

[71]
During the current outbreak with the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV, a number of exported cases
were detected through entry screening implemented by some countries. Symptomatic cases may
be detected through temperature screening at Point of Entry, for whom medical examination and
laboratory tests will be conducted for confirmation. Temperature screening to detect potential
suspect cases at Point of Entry may miss travellers incubating the disease or travellers concealing
fever during travel and may require substantial investments. A focused approach targeting direct
flights from affected areas could be more effective and less resource demanding.

Currently the northern hemisphere (and China) is in the midst of the winter season when Influenza
and other respiratory infections are prevalent. When deciding implementation of entry screening,
countries need to take into consideration that travellers with signs and symptoms suggestive of
respiratory infection may result from respiratory diseases other than 2019-nCoV, and that their
follow-up may impose an additional burden on the health system. National policy and capacities
should be taken into account during the decision-making process.

If entry screening is implemented, temperature screening should always be accompanied by

dissemination of risk communication messages at Points of Entry. This can be done through
posters, leaflets, electronic bulletin, etc, aiming at raising awareness among travellers about signs
and symptoms of the disease, and encouragement of health care seeking behavior, including when
to seek medical care, and report of their travel history.

Countries implementing temperature screening are encouraged to establish proper mechanism for
data collection and analysis, e.g. numbers of travellers screened and confirmed cases out of
screened passengers, and method of screening.

Public health authorities should reinforce collaboration with airline operators for case management
on board an aircraft and reporting, should a traveller with respiratory disease symptoms is detected,
in accordance with the IATA guidance for cabin crew to manage suspected communicable disease
on board an aircraft.

Previous advice with regards to procedures for a ill traveller detected on board a plane and
requirements for IHR capacities at Points of Entry remains unchanged (see WHO Advice
published on 10 January 2020).

[72]
WHO advises against the application of any restrictions of international traffic based on the
information currently available on this event.

Key considerations for repatriation and quarantine of travellers in relation to the outbreak
of novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV

On 30th January 2020, the WHO Director General has declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus
2019- nCoV as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), based on the advice
of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (2005).1 Following that
determination, WHO did not recommend any travel or trade restrictions, based on the current
information available.

Evidence on travel measures that significantly interfere with international traffic for more than 24
hours shows that such measures may have a public health rationale at the beginning of the
containment phase of an outbreak, as they may allow affected countries to implement sustained
response measures, and non-affected countries to gain time to initiate and implement effective
preparedness measures. Such restrictions, however, need to be short in duration, proportionate to
the public health risks, and be reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves.

Countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection,
isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread of 2019-nCoV
infection, and to share full data with WHO. In accordance with their obligations under the Article
43 of the International Health Regulations (2005), States Parties must inform WHO about
additional health measures that significantly interfere with international traffic.

For countries that have decided to repatriate their nationals from Wuhan City, Hubei province, the
following key considerations need to be made, in order to ensure the health and wellbeing of those
involved in the repatriation. In addition, measures aimed at bolstering national preparedness
capacities to prevent the further spread or importation of 2019-nCoV before, during, and after
repatriation need to be considered.

Measures to be adopted before embarkation

Advanced bilateral communication, coordination, and planning with the responsible authorities
before departure.

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The aircraft should be properly staffed with sufficient medical personnel to accommodate the
number of nationals anticipated, and that they are outfitted with appropriate PPE and
equipment/supplies to respond to illness en route.

The non-medical crew of the aircraft should be properly briefed and outfitted, as well as aware of
the signs and symptoms to detect symptomatic passengers for nCoV.

Exit screening, for example temperature measurement and a questionnaire, should be conducted
before departure for the early detection of symptoms. Screening results should be shared with the
receiving country.

It is advised to delay the travel of the suspected ill travellers detected through exit screening to be
referred for further evaluation and treatment.

Onboard the Aircraft

The seating location of passengers inside the aircraft should be duly noted/mapped in case a
passenger begins to display symptoms, so they can be isolated, and to furthermore take note of
those in the immediate vicinity (ex: those within same row, and two rows in front and two rows
behind) for the needed follow up upon arrival.

In case suspected cases are detected on the aircraft, the cabin crew should inform and seek advice
from a ground-based medical service provider at the point of entry of arrival through the control
tower. In cases of severe illness, the pilot in command may consider diversion for the unwell
passenger to the nearest point of entry receive the required treatment.

In the event of a respiratory illness en route, the following immediate steps may be taken to reduce
exposure and limit transmission to other passengers or aircraft crew2:

Designate one dedicated cabin crew member to look after the ill traveller, preferably one who has
previously interacted with the passenger;

Use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when dealing with symptomatic patients
(medical or surgical mask, hand hygiene, gloves);

In all cases, the adjacent seat(s) of the patient should be left unoccupied, if feasible;

[74]
Passengers seated in the close vicinity should have their information on itinerary and contact
details recorded for further follow up, as potential contacts, using a Passenger Locator Form3. This
information may be collected on a voluntary basis for the remaining passengers;

The patient on the aircraft should adhere to respiratory/cough etiquette either by wearing a medical
or surgical mask (if available and tolerated) or the patient could contain his cough or sneeze by
using disposable tissue. If the patient cannot tolerate a mask, healthy travellers adjacent to the ill
traveller may be offered masks;

Practice hand hygiene (hand washing or hand rub);

Handle any blankets, trays or other personal products used by the patient with respiratory
symptoms carefully;

In case of presence of spills (vomits, blood spills, secretions or others), practice environmental
cleaning and spills-management;

Handle all waste in accordance with regulatory requirements or guidelines;

Notify the health authority at the point of arrival. The health part of the aircraft general declaration
(Annex 9 of IHR) can be used to register the health information onboard and submit to point of
entry health authorities, when requested by the country;

Ensure the flight crew maintain continuous operation of the aircraft’s air recirculation system
(HEPA filters are fitted to largest aircraft and will remove some airborne pathogens, depending on
the size of the particulate or microorganism).

Upon arrival at the Point of Entry

Entry screening: temperature screening alone may not be very effective as it may miss travellers
incubating the disease or travellers concealing fever during travel, or it may yield false positive
(fever of a different cause). If temperature screening is implemented, it should be accompanied
with:

Health messages: Dissemination of health messages and travel notices informing persons on
signs, symptoms and where to seek medical support if needed.

[75]
Primary questionnaire: Development and use of forms to collect information on symptoms,
history of exposure and contact information.

Data collection and analysis: Establishment of proper mechanisms for collection and analysis of
data generated from the entry screening for the rapid evaluation and response.

Suspected cases detected at arrival

Personnel and supplies: Trained personnel should be available for the early detection and initial
evaluation of cases and equipped with the needed supplies.

Interview and initial management: A separate space should be designated for the initial
assessment of suspected cases and the interview of contacts.

Fast track pathway and transport: A separate pathway should be delineated to rapidly refer
suspected cases to the designated hospital/facility for further evaluation to avoid contact with the
other passengers. Arrangement for safe transportation of suspected cases to the designated
hospital/facility should also be in place.

Contingency plan: A functional public health emergency contingency plan at point of entry
should be in place to respond to public health events.

Disinfection of the Aircraft: In accordance with the aircraft make and model, usage of preferred
cleaning chemicals and methods should be consulted to properly disinfect the aircraft. A
segregated space at the PoE and trained personnel should be available to clean the aircraft after
disembarking passengers.

Non-suspected passengers’ arrival into the country

Risk communication: Prepare countries to communicate rapidly and transparently with the
population and ensure the involvement of media to support the spread of the right messages and
avoid rumours4. Countries should communicate with their public early and effectively to mitigate
stigma or discrimination and avoid panic, in line with the principles of Article 3 of the IHR.

Health measures: If there is evidence of an imminent public health risk from the arriving
passengers, the country may, in accordance with Article 31 of the IHR and in alignment with its
national law, deeming the extent necessary to control such a risk, compel the traveller to undergo

[76]
additional health measures that prevent or control the spread of disease, including isolation,
quarantine or placing the traveller under public health observation. In the absence of an established
quarantine law, countries should ensure emergency contingency protocols to support quarantine.

Quarantine

If the country decides to put arriving passengers, those not displaying symptoms, in a quarantine
facility, the following needs to be considered, in accordance with Article 32 of the IHR:

Infrastructure: there is no universal guidance regarding the infrastructure for a quarantine

facility, but space should be respected not to further enhance potential transmission and the living
placement of those quarantined should be recorded for potential follow up in case of illness.

Accommodation and supplies: travellers should be provided with adequate food and water,
appropriate accommodation including sleeping arrangements and clothing, protection for baggage
and other possessions, appropriate medical treatment, means of necessary communication if
possible, in a language that they can understand and other appropriate assistance. A medical mask
is not required for those who are quarantined. If masks are used, best practices should be
followed5.

Communication: establish appropriate communication channels to avoid panic and to provide

appropriate health messaging so those quarantined can timely seek appropriate care when
developing symptoms.

Respect and Dignity: travellers should be treated, with respect for their dignity, human rights and
fundamental freedoms and minimize any discomfort or distress associated with such measures,
including by treating all travellers with courtesy and respect; taking into consideration the gender,
sociocultural, ethnic or religious concerns of travellers.

Duration: up to 14 days (corresponding with the known incubation period of the virus, according
to existing information), may be extended due to a delayed exposure.

Personnel

Health Care Workers: trained personnel should be assigned for the observation and follow up of
these passengers in the quarantine facility. These health care workers should be equipped with the
basic PPEs and commodities needed to deal with the suspected cases (medical/surgical masks,

[77]
gowns, gloves, face shields or goggles, hand sanitizers and disinfectants). Additional commodities
are needed for surveillance, lab and clinical management of the 2019-nCoV6. Additionally, they
should be trained on case definitions, infection prevention and control measures, and the initial
management of suspected cases to perform the following interventions7:

Active surveillance: to identify suspected cases;

Isolate suspected cases and ensure safe transport: strictly adhere to infection prevention and
control (IPC) measures and social distancing procedure to prevent potential spread of the infection
to others;

Collect laboratory samples: to test for the 2019-nCoV in the national reference laboratory or
international laboratories in the absence of the lab testing capacity;

Manage cases clinically: Identify ambulances and designated health facilities to refer cases to for
the necessary isolation, treatment and follow up. Adhere to strict IPC measures to prevent the
spread of the infection among health care workers or other patients;

Trace contacts: to identify other potential cases within the quarantine facility, test, isolate and
treat as necessary. Extend and adapt quarantine period to correspond to the incubation period of
the delayed exposure;

Share data: on the number and description of cases with WHO using the WHO reporting forms
and in accordance to Article 6 of the IHR.

Other Support Staff: personnel responsible for administrative work and cleaning service should
also be trained and properly briefed on signs and symptoms of the disease and provided with
appropriate PPEs, as needed.

[78]
 CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The purpose for the approach is to plan the examination methodology. This incorporates the
general plan, the inspecting technique, the information gathering strategy and examination method.

Essentially there are two kinds of examines, which as indicated by their relevance, quality,
shortcomings, and prerequisites utilized before choosing legitimate sort of research, their
reasonableness must be seen regarding an explicit issue two general kinds of looks into are
exploratory and decisive.

The study on the aviation industry is incorporated by extensive primary and secondary research
conducted by the research team. In secondary research, different approaches have been adopted to
derive the market value, market growth rate and analyze trends in the industry due to the COVID-
19 pandemic. In the report, the analysis of the country is provided by analyzing various regional
players, laws & policies, consumer behavior, macro-economic factors and impact of the pandemic.

Numbers extracted from secondary research have been authenticated by conducting proper
primary research. It includes tracking down key people from the industry and interviewing them
to validate the data. This enables the analyst to derive the closest possible figures. Besides, an
expected recovery timeline of the industry will also be provided with the best- and worst-case
scenario which will aid the companies to take their future steps in the global aviation industry .

1. Conclusive Research:

It is otherwise called quantitative research; it is intended to help administrators of activity that is

to settle on choice.

At the point when an advertising official settles on a choice are strategy is being chosen from
among various accessible. The options might be as few as two or basically interminable. They
might be very much characterized or just dubiously witnessed.

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Convincing examination gives data, which enables the officials to settle on a sane choice. In a few
cases, especially if any investigation is run, the examination may verge on indicating the exact
choices to pick, in their cases particularly with clear examinations the exploration will just
especially elucidate the circumstance and much will be left to the official's judgment.

The sort of research here is "Descriptive Research Design". This sort of configuration is utilized
for increasingly exact examination or of building up the working theory from an operational
perspective. It has inbuilt adaptability, which is required in light of the fact that the examination
issue, extensively characterized at first, is changed into one with progressively exact importance
in exploratory investigations, which in truth may require changes in research methodology for
social affair significant information.

The characteristic features of research are as follows: –

• Flexible Design
• Non-Probability Sampling Design
• No pre-planned design for analysis
• Unstructured instruments for collection of data
• No fixed decisions about the operational procedures

Sample Size

Sample size refers to the numbers of respondent’s researcher have selected for the survey. I have
selected 100 sample units from market and individual customers.

Sampling Technique

The sample design provides information on the target information and final sample sizes. I used
conveyed convenient sampling surveyed in research.

Sampling Area:

While conducting sample, I did telephonic conversations with employees of airline companies.

[80]
Data collection tool

I have used Questionnaire, as the research instrument to conduct an employee survey. The
questionnaire consisted closed ended questions designed in such a way that it should gather
maximum information possible.

The questionnaire was a combination of 18 questions. If choices are given it is easier for the
respondent to respond from the choices rather they think and reply also it takes lesser time. Because
the keep on responding and one has tick mark the right choice accordingly.

Data was collected through two sources:

Primary Source: Primary data was collected directly from the customers through a questionnaire.

Secondary Source: The secondary source was the company website and employees.

Method of sampling

Convenient sampling is used to do sampling as all the customers in the sites are Surveyed.

Data Analysis

Data analysis was done mainly from the data collected through the customers. The data Collected
from secondary sources is also used to analyses on one particular parameter.

Qualitative analysis was done on the data collected from the primary as well as secondary Sources

[81]
 CHAPTER 5

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. Gender

Table no. 1

Gender No. of Respondents Percentage

Male 50 50%
Female 50 50%
Total 100 100%

Chart no. 1

Gender

19%

Male
Female

81%

Interpretation:

Table 1 reveals that 50% of the respondents are male and 50% of the respondents are females.

[82]
 2. Age of the respondents

Table no. 2

Age Group No. of Respondents Percentage

18-25 27 27%
25-35 32 32%
35-45 19 19%
45 years and above 22 22%

Chart no. 2

Age Group

32

27

22
19

18-25 YEARS 26-35 YEARS 36-45 YEARS 46 YEARS AND ABOVE

Age Group

Interpretation:

The above table gives us a description about the age group of the 100 respondents included for the
study and its reveals that 19% of the respondents are of the age group of 36-45 years, 32% are 26-
35 years’ age group, 22% are 46 years and above and 27% of the respondents are of the age group
of 18-25 years.

[83]
 3. Educational qualification
Table no. 3

Educational qualification No. of Respondents Percentage

Up to SSC 29 29%
HSC 21 21%
Graduate 37 37%
Post graduate 13 13%

Chart no. 3

Education qualification
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Upto SSC HSC Graduate Post graduate

Education qualification

Interpretation:

Table 3 reveals that 29% of the respondents have an education qualification of up to SSC, 21% of
the respondents are HSC qualified, 37% of the respondents are graduates and 13% of the
respondents are post graduates.

[84]
 4. Which is your company?

Table no. 4

Experience No. of Respondents Percentage

Indigo 42 42%
Jet Airways 27 27%
Spice Jet 19 19%
Air India 12 12%

Chart no. 4

Company
45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Indigo Jet Airways Spice Jet Air India

Company

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear than 42% of the respondents are employees of Indigo, 27% of the
respondents are employees of Jet Airways, 19% of the respondents are employees of Spice Jet and
18% of the respondents are employees of Air India.

[85]
 5. Since how long you have been working in Aviation Industry?

Table no. 5

Retail Industry No. of Respondents Percentage

Less than 1 year 31 31%
1-3 years 15 15%
3-5 years 33 33%
More than 5 years 21 21%

Chart no. 5

Experience
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Less than 1 year 1-3 years 3-5 years more than 5 years

Experience

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear than 15% of the employees have an experience of 1-3 years working
in Aviation Industry, 33% of the respondents have an experience of 3-5 years, 31% of the
respondents have an experience of less than 1 year and 21% of the respondents have an experience
of more than 5 years working in Aviation Industry.

[86]
 6. Initiatives taken by the organisation for the well-being of the employees.

Table no. 6

Initiatives No. of Respondents Percentage

No Initiative 10 10%
1-2 Initiatives 35 35%
3-5 Initiatives 34 34%
5 or more Initiatives 21 21%

Chart no. 6

Initiatives
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
No Initiative 1-2 Initiatives 3-5 Initiatives 5 or more Initiatives

Initiatives

Interpretation:

Table 7 reveals that 90 per cent of the responding organisations have at least one initiative around
well-being of employees whereas 21 per cent are quite proactive and have 5 or more initiatives to
support employee well-being.

[87]
 7. Rate the level of maturity of your organisation’s infrastructure and practices to
support work from home for the employees.
Table no. 7

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Highly immature 0 0%
Not mature enough 6 6%
To some extent 14 14%
Mature enough 47 47%
Highly mature 33 33%

Chart no. 7

Opinion

47

33

14

0 6

HIGHLY IMMATURE NOT MATURE TO SOME EXTENT MATURE ENOUGH HIGHLY MATURE
ENOUGH

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 80 per cent of the responding employee in Aviation sector
rated their practices as highly mature or mature enough.

[88]
 8. The organisations are supporting the employees by providing laptops with secured
connection to ensure smooth remote working.
Table no. 8

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 5 5%
Disagree 18 18%
Neither agree nor disagree 0 0%
Agree 37 37%
Strongly agree 40 40%

Chart no. 8

Opinion

40
37

18

5 0

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 37% of the respondents agree and 40% strongly agree that the
organisations are supporting the employees by providing laptops with secured connection to ensure
smooth remote working whereas 18% of the respondents disagree and 5% of the respondents
strongly disagree.

[89]
 9. Organisations are taking measures to monitor employee well-being, HR e-connect
and Leadership call/connect.
Table no. 9

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 0 0%
Disagree 4 4%
Neither agree nor disagree 7 7%
Agree 45 45%
Strongly agree 44 44%

Chart no. 9

Opinion

45 44

0 4 7

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 45% of the respondents agree and 44% strongly agree that
organisations are taking measures to monitor employee well-being, HR e-connect and Leadership
call/connect, 7% of the respondents neither agree not disagree whereas 4% of the respondents
disagree.

[90]
 10. Organisations have re-defined their communication strategy to increase engagement
of employees.
Table no. 10

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 5 5%
Disagree 10 10%
Neither agree nor disagree 17 17%
Agree 44 44%
Strongly agree 24 24%

Chart no. 10

Opinion

44

24

17

10
5

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 44% of the respondents agree and 24% strongly agree that
organisations have re-defined their communication strategy to increase engagement of employees,
17% of the respondents were neutral whereas 10% of the respondents disagree and 5% strongly
disagree.

[91]
 11. Organisations are redefining their talent strategies, with higher focus been given to
designing interventions to engage and retain critical, high potential and essential
workforce.
Table no. 11

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 4 4%
Disagree 7 7%
Neither agree nor disagree 18 18%
Agree 51 51%
Strongly agree 20 20%

Chart no. 11

Opinion

51

20
18

4 7

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that only 51% of the respondents agree and 20% strongly agree
that Organisations are redefining their talent strategies, with higher focus been given to designing
interventions to engage and retain critical, high potential and essential workforce, 18% of the
respondents were neutral whereas 7% of the respondents disagree and 4% of the respondents
strongly disagree.

[92]
 12. Companies have deferred or suspended their promotion schedule.

Table no. 12

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 0 0%
Disagree 0 0%
Neither agree nor disagree 10 10%
Agree 52 52%
Strongly agree 38 38%

Chart no. 12

Opinion

52

38

10
0 0

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that only 52% of the respondents agree and 38% strongly agree
that companies have deferred or suspended their promotion schedule, 10% of the respondents
neither agree nor disagree.

[93]
 13. A downward trend on promotions numbers have been seen across all job levels.

Table no. 13

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 0 0%
Disagree 8 8%
Neither agree nor disagree 11 11%
Agree 44 44%
Strongly agree 37 37%

Chart no. 13

Progress

44

37

11
8
0

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Progress

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 44% of the respondents agree and 37% strongly agree a
downward trend on promotions numbers have been seen across all job levels, 11% of the
respondents neither agree nor disagree whereas 8% of the respondents disagree.

[94]
 14. Organisations have opted for decreasing the salary increment budgets after COVID.

Table no. 14

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 6 6%
Disagree 23 23%
Neither agree nor disagree 18 18%
Agree 29 29%
Strongly agree 24 24%

Chart no. 14

Opinion

29

24
23

18

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 29% of the respondents agree and 24% strongly agree that the
organisations have opted for decreasing the salary increment budgets, 18% of the respondents
neither agree nor disagree whereas 23% of the respondents disagree and 6% strongly disagree.

[95]
 15. If COVID-19 situation persists, organisations may defer, freeze or suspend incentive
payouts to support their overall finances.
Table no. 15

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 4 4%
Disagree 7 7%
Neither agree nor disagree 18 18%
Agree 51 51%
Strongly agree 20 20%

Chart no. 15

Opinion

51

20
18

4 7

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that only 51% of the respondents agree and 20% strongly agree
that if COVID-19 situation persists, organisations may defer, freeze or suspend incentive payouts
to support their overall finances, 18% of the respondents neither agree nor disagree whereas 7%
of the respondents disagree and 4% of the respondents strongly disagree.

[96]
 16. Organisations have deferred or suspended their hiring schedule at different job levels.

Table no. 16

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 0 0%
Disagree 5 5%
Neither agree nor disagree 9 9%
Agree 40 40%
Strongly agree 46 46%

Chart no. 16

Opinion

46

40

9
0 5

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that only 40% of the respondents agree and 46% strongly agree
that organisations have deferred or suspended their hiring schedule at different job levels, 9% of
the respondents neither agree nor disagree whereas 5% of the respondents disagree.

[97]
 17. Current crisis is pushing corporates to take the leap and switch to ‘e-webinars’ and
‘e-learning’.
Table no. 17

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 0 0%
Disagree 0 0%
Neither agree nor disagree 12 12%
Agree 53 53%
Strongly agree 35 35%

Chart no. 17

Opinion

53

35

12
0 0

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that only 53% of the respondents agree and 35% strongly agree
that current crisis is pushing corporates to take the leap and switch to ‘e-webinars’ and ‘e-learning’,
and 12% of the respondents neither agree nor disagree.

[98]
 18. Organisations have modified their learning strategy to drive more effective virtual
working.

Table no. 18

Opinion No. of Respondents Percentage

Strongly disagree 0 0%
Disagree 0 0%
Neither agree nor disagree 7 7%
Agree 39 39%
Strongly agree 54 54%

Chart no. 18

Opinion

54

39

0 0 7

STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

DISAGREE

Opinion

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that only 39% of the respondents agree and 54% strongly agree
that organisations have modified their learning strategy to drive more effective virtual working,
and 9% of the respondents neither agree nor disagree.

[99]
 CHAPTER 6

FINDINGS SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

Findings

▪ 42% of the respondents are employees of Indigo, 27% of the respondents are employees of
Jet Airways, 19% of the respondents are employees of Spice Jet and 18% of the respondents
are employees of Air India.

▪ 15% of the employees have an experience of 1-3 years working in Aviation Industry, 33%
of the respondents have an experience of 3-5 years, 31% of the respondents have an
experience of less than 1 year and 21% of the respondents have an experience of more than
5 years working in Aviation Industry.
▪ 90 per cent of the responding organisations have at least one initiative around well-being
of employees whereas 21 per cent are quite proactive and have 5 or more initiatives to
support employee well-being.
▪ 80 per cent of the responding employee in Aviation sector rated their practices as highly
mature or mature enough.
▪ 37% of the respondents agree and 40% strongly agree that the organisations are supporting
the employees by providing laptops with secured connection to ensure smooth remote
working whereas 18% of the respondents disagree and 5% of the respondents strongly
disagree.
▪ 45% of the respondents agree and 44% strongly agree that organisations are taking
measures to monitor employee well-being, HR e-connect and Leadership call/connect, 7%
of the respondents neither agree not disagree whereas 4% of the respondents disagree.
▪ 44% of the respondents agree and 24% strongly agree that organisations have re-defined
their communication strategy to increase engagement of employees, 17% of the
respondents were neutral whereas 10% of the respondents disagree and 5% strongly
disagree.
▪ 51% of the respondents agree and 20% strongly agree that Organisations are redefining
their talent strategies, with higher focus been given to designing interventions to engage

[100]
 and retain critical, high potential and essential workforce, 18% of the respondents were
neutral whereas 7% of the respondents disagree and 4% of the respondents strongly
disagree.
▪ 52% of the respondents agree and 38% strongly agree that companies have deferred or
suspended their promotion schedule, 10% of the respondents neither agree nor disagree.
▪ 44% of the respondents agree and 37% strongly agree a downward trend on promotions
numbers have been seen across all job levels, 11% of the respondents neither agree nor
disagree whereas 8% of the respondents disagree.
▪ 29% of the respondents agree and 24% strongly agree that the organisations have opted for
decreasing the salary increment budgets, 18% of the respondents neither agree nor disagree
whereas 23% of the respondents disagree and 6% strongly disagree.
▪ 51% of the respondents agree and 20% strongly agree that if COVID-19 situation persists,
organisations may defer, freeze or suspend incentive payouts to support their overall
finances, 18% of the respondents neither agree nor disagree whereas 7% of the respondents
disagree and 4% of the respondents strongly disagree.
▪ 40% of the respondents agree and 46% strongly agree that organisations have deferred or
suspended their hiring schedule at different job levels, 9% of the respondents neither agree
nor disagree whereas 5% of the respondents disagree.
▪ 53% of the respondents agree and 35% strongly agree that current crisis is pushing
corporates to take the leap and switch to ‘e-webinars’ and ‘e-learning’, and 12% of the
respondents neither agree nor disagree.
▪ 39% of the respondents agree and 54% strongly agree that organisations have modified
their learning strategy to drive more effective virtual working, and 9% of the respondents
neither agree nor disagree.

[101]
Suggestions

1. Ensure employee safety

Employers who still have workers reporting in-person should screen every individual before they
enter the premises. HR and senior leaders should continue encouraging employees with symptoms
to remain at home, and amend policies to ensure sick employees can stay home without losing
pay.

Limit on-site teams to as few people as possible, providing more private spaces, and enforcing
strict hygiene rules to help prevent the spread of the virus.

In addition to basic safety standards, managing the perception of safety is importance too. People
will react to this pandemic in various ways, companies should maintain composure and steer
employees toward feelings of safety.

2. Maintain regular communication with employees

Employees are going to view the coronavirus in different manners. Some may think the virus is a
hoax or not worth paying attention to, and others will take it very seriously. Regardless of beliefs,
organizations must maintain clear communication with its workers.

Leaders should show their commitment to safety by regularly sharing helpful and fact-based
information via the company's internal employee portal or through virtual town halls. These
mediums allow HR leaders to educate workers with proper courses of action should they begin
showing signs of infection or come in contact with an infected individual, according to the release.

Instead of trying to offer all of the answers, Gartner suggested leaders and managers encourage
employees to use trusted websites such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to gain information.

3. Ensure equitable employee policies

"Another thing that really matters are that even if you've got some employees working remotely
and some employees still coming into the office, you need to create fairness across those two
groups as much as you can,".

[102]
HR should review and alter company policies to ensure every employee has equal access to
healthcare offerings. They should also make sure employees coming on-site for work still have
access to their usual sick leave or PTO, according to the release.

Once the crisis has passed, employers encourage employees working from home, or those who
have accumulated leave, to donate some of that time off to create a PTO bank for those working
on-site.

4. Develop employee-support solutions

"We realize right now, especially with school out, people are juggling different things with all of
the uncertainty that's out there,". "A lot of companies are trying to find ways to make their
employees' lives easier."

HR leaders can provide support in numerous ways, whether it's by dividing workers into teams
that alternate work days, or providing free on-site food and snacks. Some companies are even
doing the grocery shopping and dry cleaning for workers.

Organizations should also permit high risk employees--such as pregnant women, those with
weakened immune systems, or those older than 65--to take paid sick leave for up to 30 days if
necessary.

5. Seek employee feedback

"We're all making it up as we're going along. We're listening and we're adjusting and we're
learning, but there's no playbook for any of this,". "What you have to do is consistently get
feedback from those employees that are coming into the workplace to learn from them, learn what's
working, what's not working, and what is makes them feel safe."

Some 43% of employees in an April 2 Gartner poll said their organizations are asking managers
to collect feedback from workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This information is
intended to then be shared with senior leaders, as stated in the release.

Feedback can be used to drive employee investment decisions and learn how to better deal and
manage the safety and experience of on-site workers, according to the release.

[103]
6. Reward and recognize employees

Many high-level professionals in leadership have announced they are taking pay-cuts to help on-
site workers. HR professionals can also show recognition by using the company's communications
channels to acknowledge employees by name for the commitment they've shown working during
this crisis, according to the release.

"Employees, for the most part, are trying to work hard and make an impact,". "The problem is that
everyone is moving a thousand miles an hour trying to get things done. One of the things that we
often forget, as leaders of an organization, is simply to say thank you and recognize the
contributions that our employees are making."

[104]
 CONCLUSION
The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the business world with a radical impact cutting across
industries. Organizations are navigating an unprecedented and challenging time and are
collectively at a level playing ground as none had an upper hand of being better prepared or
equipped to deal with the crisis. As organisations grapple to minimize the impact, Human Resource
professionals are being called upon to help evaluate and strategize a strong and holistic response
that encompasses the evolved priorities for the organization, it’s mission, values and community
impact. With most organizations now moving to a new normal of working which is more liquid
and flexible in nature, there is a need for strategies and new operating models for business
continuity and workforce management. Organizations need strategies for reimagining work and
workforce landscape, new operating and governance models, evolving cultures and talent
priorities, new roles and capabilities, new ways of measuring performance, and enabling areas
such as transformative policy frameworks, strong technology infrastructure, employee wellbeing
and an effective leadership. These interventions are the need of the hour and will help organizations
to re-invent themselves for them to continue to succeed in the present and in the future.

[105]
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[110]
 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is your Gender?

a) Female
b) Male
c) Other

2. What is your Age?

a) 18- 25 years
b) 26- 35 years
c) 36-45 years
d) 45 years and above

3. What is your Academic Qualification?

a) Up to SSC
b) HSC
c) Graduate
d) Post Graduate

4. What is your organisation?

a) Indigo
b) Jet Airways
c) Spice Jet
d) Air India

[111]
5. Since how long you have been working in Aviation Industry?
a) Less than 1 year
b) 1-3 years
c) 3-5 years
d) More than 5 years

6. Initiatives taken by the organisation for the well-being of the employees.

a) No Initiative
b) 1-2 Initiatives
c) 3-5 Initiatives
d) 5 or more Initiatives

7. Rate the level of maturity of your organisation’s infrastructure and practices to support
work from home for the employees.
a) Highly immature
b) Not mature enough
c) To some extent
d) Mature enough
e) Highly mature

8. The organisations are supporting the employees by providing laptops with secured
connection to ensure smooth remote working.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

[112]
9. Organisations are taking measures to monitor employee well-being, HR e-connect and
Leadership call/connect.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

10. Organisations have re-defined their communication strategy to increase engagement of

employees.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

11. Organisations are redefining their talent strategies, with higher focus been given to
designing interventions to engage and retain critical, high potential and essential
workforce.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

[113]
12. Companies have deferred or suspended their promotion schedule.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

13. A downward trend on promotions numbers have been seen across all job levels.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

14. Organisations have opted for decreasing the salary increment budgets after COVID.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

15. If COVID-19 situation persists, organisations may defer, freeze or suspend incentive
payouts to support their overall finances.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

[114]
16. Organisations have deferred or suspended their hiring schedule at different job levels.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

17. Current crisis is pushing corporates to take the leap and switch to ‘e-webinars’ and ‘e-
learning’.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

18. Organisations have modified their learning strategy to drive more effective virtual working.
a) Strongly Disagreed
b) Disagreed
c) Neutral
d) Agreed
e) Strongly Agreed

[115]