The country’s national carrier, Air India, has issued an order for its pilots stating that all their leaves stand to be cancelled with immediate effect. “All leaves for cockpit crew stands withdrawn with immediate effect. However, leave may be granted in extreme cases depending on the urgency on a case-to-case basis,” read an internal mail to all pilots.

Officials of Air India indicated that many pilots were on leave during the COVID-19 pandemic and the services were not utilised fully. “With situation gradually improving in the aviation sector after the resumption of domestic flights on 25 May, the aviation sector seems to be returning on track,” said official from the company.

According to a recent data, passengers travelling by domestic flights are increasing with every passing day. The number of domestic passengers on 28 February 2021 rose to 3,13,668 on 2,353 flights. This is the highest number since the resumption of domestic flights on 25 May 2020. This was revealed by the data by Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The move from the national carrier comes at a time when resumption of international scheduled flights is still under doubts and government of India is yet to decide on the full resumption.