Russian carrier Rossiya Airlines has placed about 100 pilots on furlough citing tough sanctions placed on Russia due to the Ukraine invasion. The airline has grounded multiple aircraft, which will be harvested for parts. Due to the tough sanctions, the airline cannot reply on imported parts due to security reasons.
The Russian operators are looking for domestic harvested spares as foreign OEMs have stopped supplying parts to Russia. This has raised various issues and concerns regarding the safety of Russian aircraft as airlines resort to picking parts from their fleet. Experts believe that this might lead to the cannibalism of airline fleets as more aircraft will be scrapped for parts.
“The airline advised that the layoffs were necessary to ensure that mass retrenchment was avoided, given these 'emergency circumstances' the airline is in. Flight attendants at this stage will not be affected by the layoffs. However, pilots will be laid off on a rotating schedule for several days per month. This period is set to last between January 1st, to March 31st,” quoted Business Daily.
Sources have claimed that one-third of the pilot staff of A319/320 will be laid off temporarily per month with two-thirds of their salary slashed.
Rossiya is a part of the Aeroflot group with 26 Airbus A320 and Airbus A319 aircraft in its fleet.