Russian aviation industry is afraid of losing staff due to military mobilisation

The partial military mobilisation of at least 300,000 Russian citizens is also affecting the Russian aviation industry. According to Russian daily newspaper Kommersant, employees of at least five Russian airlines (including Aeroflot) and of more than 10 airports have been summoned to join the army.

Most of the commercial pilots have a military background, they obtained their pilot training in military flight schools or they have completed military services before they joined the airline. Sources close to the airlines/aviation related companies calculated that between 50 and 80% of the employees can be mobilized.

Lawyers of these aviation companies have drafted requests for their employees to be relieved for military duty service, but it’s unclear where such requests should be sent.

A source close to Aeroflot estimates the number of potential recruits in all three subsidiaries (Rossiya and Pobeda) to be more than half of the airline. The Russian airline has set up a taskforce to ensure the continuity of the airline.

Aeroflot, S7 Airlines, Ural Airlines, Red Wings, other airlines, the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency abstained from any comments on questions posed by Kommersant. Rossiya Airlines said that planning of cabin and cockpit crew was carried out “as usual” and denied that flight attendants were no longer assigned on long-haul flights out of fear that they would be detained at the border and sent to the military offices.

Source: ??????? ??????????? ??????? ???????????? (Kommersant.ru)