IndiGo to Hike Salaries of Pilots after Record Breaking Q1FY24 Performance

New Delhi( India), 04/08/23: IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline, announced an increase in pilot and cabin staff pay after earning a record net profit of Rs 3,090 crore in the first quarter of 2023-24.

The airline has begun a performance evaluation for roughly 4,500 flight crew members, and new wages will be implemented on October 1.

The airline’s senior vice-president (flight operations) Ashim Mitra, wrote in a staff email that was quoted by MoneyControl, “While we regained and started to build our financial strength over this past year, we reviewed and reinstated salaries and allowances to pre-Covid levels. In the coming months, we will be working with our HR team towards enhancing the salaries of our flight crew. The revised salary structure will be effective October 1.”

According to senior executives of IndiGo, the wage raises are likely to be in the high single-digit to mid-teens range.

The increase comes just a few months after the airline offered bonuses of 3% of salaries to its crew following a profit in the January-March quarter.

IndiGo will also implement a policy that will let ATR-72 pilots to move to the Airbus fleet. IndiGo operates 39 ATR-72 planes, making it India’s largest operator of the segment.

The plan to raise wages also comes at a time when competing airlines have announced significant salary increases in recent months. In June, Akasa Air increased its pilots’ compensation by up to 40%, following a 20% increase by Air India.

Indian airlines will face intense competition to retain pilots and acquire new pilots at a time when they are attempting to expand both internationally and locally with a workforce that was reduced during the pandemic.

This year, three major Indian airlines–market leader IndiGo, Tata-backed Air India, and India’s youngest airline Akasa Air–plan to hire nearly 1,000 pilots.

Senior commanders and trainers are projected to be in high demand in the industry right now, as airlines expand their fleet and network.

IndiGo’s parent business, Interglobe Aviation, recently announced a profit of Rs 3,090 crore in the June quarter of 2023-2024.

With an increase in capacity and the load factor, revenue from operations increased nearly 30% year on year to Rs 16,683.1 crore.

IndiGo had stated that it will hire 5,000-6,000 personnel in 2023-24 as part of its ongoing domestic and international expansion.

At the moment, the airline is experiencing a pilot scarcity on its ATR fleet, with captains leaving to join other carriers after completing their three-year service commitments.

IndiGo operates 316 aircraft as of June, including a mix of Airbus and ATR-72 aircraft. Turkish Airlines has leased two Boeing 777 aircraft to the airline.