NEW DELHI: Facing widespread discontent from its pilots — whose Covid time pay cuts continue — after giving ESOPS worth several crores to management brass, IndiGo has decided to partially restore their salaries from Friday April 1. They will first get a 8% hike and then another 6.5% from November 1, 2022, if there are no further flight disruptions for reasons like Covid or geopolitical tensions.
“Now, as we have established continuous steady operations, on behalf of our MD (Rahul Bhatia)… I am pleased to announce an upwards revision of 8% in salaries of all our pilots with effect from April 1, 2022.… Further, as we look forward to a positive revenue environment and hopefully we don't witness any further interruptions to operations, we also plan to implement an additional 6.5% revision from November 1, 2022,” Captain Ashim Mittra, IndiGo’s senior VP (flight operations) said in a mail to pilots on Thursday.
“I would like to personally thank each one of you for your contribution and we must continue to provide a safe, efficient, hassle free and of course on-time experience to all our passengers! Let us continue our journey towards excellence,” he added.
The pilots were disheartened after the airline gave ESOPs to top management people. Their WhatsApp group were agog with chats about the payouts — while their cuts continue — and joining bonus being offered by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s upcoming Akasa.
“Our pay has been out by 30% and we were okay with it as the situation as well known. When the airline decided to give crores to management and ignored us, that hurt. Otherwise we have always liked IndiGo for its onetime performance — including the payment of wages that always land before the end of month and never on the 1st or 2nd of the next month,” said a senior pilot.
