Rossiya Airlines will start sending about a third of its pilots flying on Airbus aircraft to idle time, Kommersant writes , citing an order from the deputy director of personnel management. This is explained by the fact that it is necessary to "prevent mass layoffs", but the trade unions believe that this is done in order to save spare parts for European aircraft.
According to Kommersant, up to 100 people will be sent to idle due to "emergency circumstances affecting the financial and economic activities of the airline." Downtime is introduced from January 1 to March 31. The fleet of Rossiya includes 31 different types of Boeing and 26 Airbus A320/A319. Four of the Airbus do not fly.
As one source told the newspaper, pilots will be suspended from work every month and transferred to two-thirds of the salary. According to other sources, we are talking about a weekly suspension.
Trade unions consider such a measure "discriminatory", since it only applies to Airbus pilots. Oksana Vlasenko, chairman of the Interregional Union of Pilots, notes that the flight time on these aircraft now averages about 50-70 hours per month, which is comparable to the flight time of Boeing pilots.
Igor Deldyuzhov, president of the Sheremetyevo aircrew trade union, suggests that this is due to the fact that it is easier for Boeing to find spare parts.
With the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Airbus and Boeing stopped supplying components for their aircraft in Russia. In August, Reuters, citing sources, reported that Russian airlines, including Aeroflot, began to dismantle aircraft for parts. In October, it became known that the Ministry of Transport plans to allow the purchase of non-original spare parts for aircraft.
