IndiGo has provided significant relief to its pilots following recent widespread flight cancellations and regulatory scrutiny. The airline has increased the layover allowance for captains and first officers by up to 50%, and doubled the deadheading allowance. This decision is seen as crucial to maintaining pilot morale and competing with foreign airlines.
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Salary Increase: Amidst widespread flight cancellations and regulatory scrutiny, India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has provided significant relief to its pilots. The company has increased the layover allowance for captains and first officers by 50% and doubled the deadheading allowance.
This decision by IndiGo comes after a rostering error earlier this month resulted in the cancellation of nearly 4,500 flights, leaving millions of passengers stranded. Experts believe this step is necessary to maintain pilot morale and compete with foreign airlines.
How much salary increase?
According to an email sent to pilots by Ashish Mitra, Senior Vice President of Flight Operations, the airline will increase layover allowances for captains from 2,000 rupees to 3,000 rupees ($33.37) and for first officers from 1,000 rupees to 1,500 rupees.
The email states that allowances for deadheading (a practice in which airline crew travel as passengers to prepare for future duty) will be increased from 3,000 rupees to 4,000 rupees for captains and by 500 rupees to 2,000 rupees for first officers.
Notably, the airline, which holds a 65 percent share of the domestic market, is facing increasing regulatory scrutiny and competition investigations after canceling nearly 4,500 flights earlier this month, leaving millions of passengers stranded and causing chaos at airports across India.
Flight cancellations have caused losses
IndiGo could face significant financial losses due to revenue losses from customer refunds and penalties imposed due to cancelled flights. In an email seen by Reuters, Mitra said the move to increase some allowances and implement new ones effective January 1 was made after IndiGo officials visited various bases to hold discussions with pilots.
