IndiGo increases salaries of crew, non-crew employees after three years; firm says previous fiscal was challenging

Mumbai: After nearly three years, budget carrier IndiGo has decided to hike the salaries of its pilots and cabin crew as well other categories of employees effective this month. The commanders at the largest carrier had last month objected to the hiring of pilots from the now-grounded Jet Airways with additional sops like joining bonus, alleging that their wages remained constant for the past three years. [caption id=“attachment_4404141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “I am pleased to announce a salary increment for both our crew and non-crew employees effective April,” the airline’s HR head Raj Raghvan said in a communication to the employees on Thursday without quantifying the hike. The pilots and crew will receive an “upward revision” in their pay through invidulaised salary letters, while all the eligible non-crew employees will receive a “merit increase,” based on their performance and market benchmarks, he said. The Gurugram-based airline, which nearly controls half of the market, wiped of nearly three-fourths of its profit at Rs 191 crore in the December quarter. “Last fiscal year was challenging for the airline. Our profitablity in the first few quarters was significantly impacted because of escalating oil prices and and a weaker rupee. We, however, went through a high growth inducting new aircraft and opening new international and domestic destinations,” Raghvan said. With a fleet of around 200 aircraft, the airline operates around 1,400 daily flights to 53 domestic and 18 international destinations.