Days after over 900 of its flights were hit by delays due to non-availability of cabin crew and staff, India’s largest airline IndiGo has announced to hike the salaries of its pilots by a further 8 per cent from August 1. Along with the salary hike, IndiGo will also restore overtime allowance for pilots to the pre-Covid level.
Earlier, the airline had on March 31 announced that pilots’ salaries have been increased by 8 per cent in view of the continuous steady flight operations. “I am pleased to announce an upwards revision of eight per cent in the salaries of all our pilots with effect from April 1,” said Ashim Mittra, senior vice-president (flight operations), IndiGo, in a communique to the pilots.
The reinstation of the wages comes nearly two years after the carrier announced a 28 per cent pay cut for pilots in 2020. However, despite Thursday’s 8 per cent increase, pilots’ renumeration is still 16 per cent lower than their pre-Covid level salaries.
Moreover, the budget carrier is also reinstating a work pattern for pilots so as to boost aircraft utilisation. This pattern would ensure that pilots earn more, however, there will be fewer leaves. For this month, IndiGo has budgeted for an average of 1,550 flights daily, and it utilises its aircraft for around 13 hours, according to a Business Standard report.
Additionally, with flight operations on the path to complete recovery, IndiGo pilots’ layover and deadhead allowances for pilots will be reinstated from July 31, 2022.
The latest salary hike announcement comes just a few days after over half of the IndiGo-operated flights faced delays as a large number of cabin crew members reported sick. It was reported that the crew members had gone for job interviews for another airline.
Meanwhile, in a bid to ensure employee satisfaction, Tata-owned Air India has restored the salaries by almost 75 per cent compared to the pre-Covid level. Likewise, another Tata group airline, Vistara, restored its pilots’ salaries and flying allowance to pre-pandemic levels.
