Sanctions: Rossiya considers laying off a hundred Airbus A319 and A320 pilots

Amid the difficult situation Russian aviation is facing as a result of sanctions imposed on the country following the military invasion of Ukraine, Saint Petersburg-based airline Rossiya is considering laying off around one hundred Airbus A319 and A320 pilots.

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In mid-December, the union representing Rossiya’s crew members reported that the airline had taken the decision to put about one hundred pilots on leave.

The airline explained that it was taking the decision because of «emergency circumstances affecting financial and economic activities»: due to restrictions on sourcing foreign components, the company can no longer rely on imported parts and is forced to look for alternatives to continue to sustain its operation.

The impact of sanctions

This situation particularly affects aircraft developed by Western manufacturers. The sanctions force Russian operators to look for spare parts domestically, as the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers (Airbus, Boeing and Embraer) have stopped supplying components. Rossiya currently has 26 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.

In this context, airlines sometimes have to resort to collecting parts from their own aircraft to carry out maintenance work on other equipment. As a consequence, and for safety reasons, an increasing number of aircraft were stored on the ground. In the long term, this could lead to the decommissioning of a large part of the fleets.

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While Rossiya reported that the suspensions are of a temporary nature, the airline also said that the layoffs might be necessary to avoid massive cutbacks, given the «emergency circumstances» claimed by the company. In principle, the pilots would be deprogrammed on a rotating basis for several days each month between January and March 2023.

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