Airline caterer may force staff into leave amid coronavirus crisis

Flight attendants wear masks as they walk through an airport (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

An airline catering supplier may require its staff to take forced annual leave amid the cancellations of over 100 flights due to the 2019-nCoV, also known as Wuhan coronavirus.

According to an insider, they were unofficially told that as there are over 100 canceled flights and the workload is much lighter compared to the usual working days, staff may be forced to take their annual leave.

“A huge percentage of Air Macau’s flights are cancelled so our workload is really light as most of the company’s work caters to Air Macau,” said an employee who asked to remain anonymous. “We were advised that if such situation continues, all casual and annual leave should be taken.”

“If the situation persists once all leave is taken, they may require a no-pay leave,” the worker added.

On Tuesday night, the Macau International Airport Ltd. released its latest data on canceled flights – mostly involving Air Macau and Xiamen Airlines.

Approximately 100 flights to and from mainland China, Taiwan and Macau have been canceled in a bid to prevent and control the spread of 2019-nCoV.

These airlines include local carrier Air Macau, which canceled the majority of its flights bound for the mainland including those to Shanghai, Beijing, Daxing and Xiamen.

Lynzy Valles