New Delhi:

Some 60 Air India pilots operating repatriation flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad have tested positive for coronavirus, the airline has said in a letter to the government.

The Vande Bharat mission to repatriate Indians came “with a heavy price to pay for those on the frontline. As of date, at least 60 plus Pilots have been tested Covid positive,” senior-most pilots of the national carrier have written in the letter addressed to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri.

“This has had a ‘devastating effect’ on their family members,” said the letter, protesting the government’s decision to drastically cut pilots’ salaries.

The government decision to reduce the salary of pilots by up to 75% is “discriminatory, disproportionate and arbitrary and could have a disastrous psychological impact which could trigger ‘desperate and extreme acts,’ as has been repeatedly proven many times in the past,” warned the senior pilots.

Air India has a debt of around Rs 70,000 crore. The government has been trying to sell off the airline but no deal has been closed so far.

Air India pilots were the first to fly into Wuhan to rescue stranded Indians and now operates flights under the Vande Bharat scheme to bring back stranded Indian nationals from a host of countries around the world.

More than 7,73,000 Indians have returned from across the world. “It will always be our endeavour to reach out to every stranded Indian with a helping hand,” said the Minister.

On July 16, Hardeep Puri said: “You have to decide if you want Air India to survive or do you want to do this. If Air India is to pack up, none of them will get a job. Today, there is a surplus of aircraft and trained people available.”

The minister was justifying Air India’s decision to send certain employees on leave without pay for up to five years.

Air India had said that its financial situation is very challenging due to the coronavirus pandemic and its leave without pay scheme for employees is a “win-win” for them as well as the management.

Travel restrictions in India and other countries to fight COVID-19 have severely hit airlines not just in the country but across the world. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, Leave Without Pay and trimming the workforce.