In view of recent developments in the aviation sector and falling air traffic, SpiceJet has decided to revert to the structure where employees will be paid as per the work hours. The airline will, however, maintain basic thresholds while deciding the pay.

In an email addressed to all employees, the human resources said, "Much like last year, the second wave of COVID-19 has hit the Indian aviation industry the hardest, but this time the impact has been much more severe especially on our industry. During this second wave, passenger traffic has fallen to less than 10 percent as compared to the pre-COVID levels."

SpiceJet said that under these "extreme and unavoidable" circumstances, the company is "reverting to the structure where employees will be paid according to the work hours contributed while maintaining basic thresholds."

It further said that while salaries for May will be credited to employees' bank accounts on 1 June, there will be a graded deferment of up to 35 percent for some.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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SpiceJet to pay employees based on work hours, defers up to 35% of May salary for some

During the second COVID-19 wave, passenger traffic has fallen to less than 10 percent as compared to the pre-COVID levels, SpiceJet told employees.

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