Apr 02, Colombo: The management of Sri Lanka’s national carrier, SriLankan Airlines has decided to implement cost-saving measures including mandatory salary reductions from the staff for a period of three months to ensure the survival of the airline in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These measures include mandatory salary reductions from the staff starting from 2.5% to 25% for a period of three months, freezing all the salary increments to be implemented in the year 2020, and other initiatives including temporarily terminating operations from 8th to 21st April, 2020 with the exception of cargo services which have a direct impact in saving costs, the airline said in a statement.

The management of SriLankan Airlines has already taken measures to preserve the liquidity of the National Carrier by negotiating deferred payment plans and deductions with Airline’s key suppliers.

Following is the full statement:

The Chairman and Board of Directors of SriLankan Airlines are ever mindful of their duty to protect the country’s economic interests, livelihoods of the employees of the SriLankan Family and are making every effort to ensure the business continuity of the National Carrier.

Globally, the airline industry faces its gravest crisis in the modern times, due to COVID-19 pandemic, and some airlines are grounding their fleet either partially or completely, discontinuing all non-essential business operations, and sending staff on compulsory unpaid leave or imposing salary cuts to minimize costs and maintain their position as viable business entities. This is a situation that the air transport industry has never faced before and is placing unprecedented stress on the financial viability of many airlines and the economies of the countries in general.

For this reason, the management of SriLankan Airlines has already taken measures to preserve the liquidity of the National Carrier by negotiating deferred payment plans and deductions with Airline’s key suppliers. Whilst doing so, the Airline is continuously looking at creating new business opportunities whilst focusing on cost-saving measures to improve liquidity.

These measures include mandatory salary reductions from the staff starting from 2.5% to 25% for a period of three months, freezing all the salary increments to be implemented in the year 2020, and other initiatives including temporarily terminating operations from 8th to 21st April, 2020 with the exception of cargo services which have a direct impact in saving costs.

The management of SriLankan Airlines is taking all endeavors to protect and safeguard its staff members and their employment with the total confidence that the Airline will collectively overcome these challenges, with the strength of the Airline’s employees.

The management of the National Carrier will continue to engage with its employees during this challenging period to identify productivity enhancement initiatives that would further strengthen its efforts to ensure the Airlines’ business continuity.

SriLankan Airlines expresses its sincere gratitude to all its staff for the many sacrifices they are making, in order to ensure the continued existence of the National Carrier, and to assist the company to protect their livelihoods for the future. The contribution of every employee and the support of the employee trade unions are highly valued by the Chairman, Board of Directors and the management.