IndiGo plans to restore its pilots’ salaries to pre-Covid levels from November, the head of flight operations wrote to employees.
“Our aim has been to constantly revisit our salary and remuneration and reinstate them to pre-Covid levels. Keeping that in mind, I am pleased to announce a further 6% reinstatement of salaries effective 1st September, 2022 and the remaining 6% shall be reinstated on 1st November, 2022 as we all welcome the festival of lights. These reinstatements will bring your salaries at par with pre-Covid level,” Ashim Mittra wrote to pilots in an email Monday.
Last month, he said IndiGo would increase its pilot salaries by 8% from August, reacting to their demands to reinstate remuneration to pre-Covid levels. The airline increased salaries by 8% on 31 March.
“In these last few months, we have been monitoring our recovery constantly and while we were earlier planning to reinstate 6.5% salaries in November 2022, owing to steady operations, we could enhance and advance that to 8% reinstatement, w.e.f 1st August 2022. As communicated previously, this change shall reflect in your August salaries,” Mittra wrote in this letter Monday.
The airline has also enhanced other incentives, such as layover allowance, to pre-Covid levels.
A large chunk of IndiGo’s employees remained away from work recently, leading to delays in more than half of its flights.
Mittra also said in his email that IndiGo is reopening its “Cadet Pilot Program exclusively for employees desirous of enrolling their family members to the Cadet Program,”
Meanwhile other airlines such as Air India, Vistara and SpiceJet are raising crew salaries, even as new competition looms large. Tata Group’s airlines, especially its latest buy Air India, are expanding and recruiting. Also growing its manpower would be Akasa, which received its flying permit on Thursday and Jet Airways which plans to start flights in its second lease of life.
