IndiGo pilots to get pay raise

NEW DELHI, NOV. 27:  

The salaries of IndiGo pilots are set to increase from December 1 this year.

The move comes as two new airlines — Tata-SIA and AirAsia India — get ready to start operations and are looking for crew to operate their aircraft. IndiGo flies Airbus A-320 aircraft which are similar to what AirAsia India will operate.

Tata-SIA is yet to announce the kind of aircraft that it will be using.

IndiGo pilots that Business Line spoke to said the average increase is in the range of Rs 80,000 to Rs 100,000 a month. After the hike, on an average a pilot with the airline will take home Rs 400,000 a month, while a first officer will get about Rs 250,000, airline sources indicated.

MONTHLY WAGE BILL

With IndiGo having over a 1,000 pilots, the hike in salaries will see the airline’s monthly wage bill increase by Rs 8-10 crore.

IndiGo President, Aditya Ghosh confirmed that salaries were being increased but said that this was something which happened annually.

Aditya declined to give specifics of what the increase in salaries is going to be.

The decision to hike pilots’ salaries also comes after IndiGo reported a profit before tax of Rs 993 crore and profit after tax of Rs 787 crore in fiscal 2013.

The airline, which is not listed on the stock exchanges, submitted this data to the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation in September this year.

The airline had reported a profit after tax of Rs 128 crore in fiscal 2012.

Pilots claim that the hike is justified as the airline is the market leader and the latest hike will bring their salaries on par with what is being paid by Jet Airways, the market leader before IndiGo.