Rossiya Airlines, the subsidiary air carrier of Russia’s Aeroflot Group, is reportedly planning to furlough a third of its pilots qualified to fly Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft each month.
The temporary suspension will affect at least a hundred Rossiya Airlines flight crew, and salaries will be reduced by around 30%, Kommersant reported on December 14, 2022, citing a letter for the carrier’s personnel management signed by the deputy director.
The pilots are expected to be furloughed on a rotating schedule basis. Some sources claimed that the Saint Petersburg-based airline will rotate furloughed pilots every seven days. However, cabin crew members will not be affected, the report added.
Such a decision is based on “emergency circumstances affecting the financial and economic activities of the airline,” the letter noted. The temporary furloughs, which are scheduled to come into effect between January 1 and March 31, 2023, are expected help Rossiya Airlines to win some time to resolve issues with the shortage of aircraft spare parts due to the carrier being unable to import jet parts due ti international sanctions imposed on Russia.
According to Planespotters.com data, Rossiya Airlines currently has a total of 129 aircraft in its fleet with at least 27 planes marked as grounded.