Around 150 housekeeping staff at Visakhapatnam Airport are without work after the facility suspended civil flight operations [1].
The sudden loss of employment highlights the precarious nature of contract labor during major infrastructure transitions. While the region gains a modern aviation hub, the workforce supporting the previous facility faces immediate financial instability.
Civil flight operations have shifted from the old Visakhapatnam Airport to the newly operational Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport in Bhogapuram [1], [2]. This transition has left the old airport without commercial flights, rendering the existing housekeeping roles redundant.
Workers gathered at the site to voice concerns over their futures and missing compensation. Sunita, a housekeeping worker, said staff members have not received money or new job offers. She said salaries for the last 15 days are still unpaid [2].
The affected group consists of approximately 150 employees [1]. These workers now face an uncertain transition as the city's aviation activities consolidate at the Bhogapuram site.
There has been no official word on whether the workers will be absorbed into the operations at the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport. For now, the staff remains without a clear path to new employment or the payment of their final wages [2].
“Around 150 housekeeping staff at Visakhapatnam Airport are without work”
The displacement of workers during the move to Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport underscores a gap in labor transition planning. When critical infrastructure shifts locations, the lack of guaranteed transfer clauses for low-wage contract staff often leads to immediate unemployment and wage disputes, shifting the social cost of modernization onto the most vulnerable employees.
