Air India announces new salary structure for pilots, cabin crew: Official

Air India on Monday announced new salary structure for pilots and cabin crew, increasing the remuneration for several categories of staff, officials said.

The announcement by the airline, which its new owner Tata Group has said is undergoing a transformation plan, is likely to affect at least 2,700 pilots across Air India, Air Asia India and Air India Express brands, and 5,600 Air India cabin crew.

“In line with our vision Vihaan.AI to become a world-class airline, Air India recognises the contribution and commitment of its employees. We are pleased to announce a revision in the compensation of flying staff with effect from 1st April 2023. We have re-designed the compensation of flying staff to make our compensation structure simplified, market-competitive and productivity-oriented,” said the airline in an announcement over email to staff, which was sent shortly after an online townhall meeting.

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Changes in per hour flying rates and a minimum guarantee of flying allowance for 40 hours, up from 20 hours are few of the key upgrades.

However, some senior permanent officials felt the benefits may not reach them in the revised structure.

An airline pilot, who asked not to be named, said, “This raise in pay is only for junior pilots who work at a very poor scale”, while adding that senior-most pilots are unlikely to benefit from it.

A second pilot said the minimum guaranteed flying allowance was below industry standard. “Industry standards dictate that a pilot should be paid for the month translating to approximately 70 hours. A 40-hour commitment is highly unfair to the pilot,” an airline commander told HT, asking not to be named.

The airline also announced two additional levels or designations in the pilot category: junior first officer at entry level, and senior commanders.

Pilots-in-command with four or more years of command experience on company aircraft are being promoted to senior commanders as executive pilots of the management cadre, the company said.

As far as the salary revision is concerned, for senior captains it’s a 10-20% cut while junior commanders could get a 5-10% hike.

The company decided to extend contracts for those pilots on fixed term contracts (FTC) till up to the age of 58 years and announced that annual increments will be held as per industry expert assessment from the next financial year.

Additional compensation for pilots undergoing training for command-upgrade and conversion training will also be rolled out, the airline said.

Similar changes were announced for the cabin crew too.

The cabin crew organisation structure for both permanent and FTC cabin crew has been redesignated into four segments -- Trainee Cabin Crew, Cabin Crew, Cabin Senior and Cabin Executive.

In these too, some remuneration structures were tweaked upwards, but a few staff told HT that they were unsatisfied with allowances for permanent senior and permanent executives, who will not see any change in their pay.

“The basic / DA / HRA were sacrosanct for Air India crew (and other employees) as PF/leave encashment, gratuity and home loans are based on that. Our basic and DA has not been revised since the Dharmadhikari report,” a cabin crew said, asking not to be named, referring to a report on pay revisions released in 2013.

Airline officials said new recruits were the major beneficiaries.

“The charts for hourly flying are highly lopsided. Many seniors will consider VRS (voluntary retirement) and there may be an exodus of middle-level crew. Either way, morale will hit rock bottom,” the official added, asking not to be named.

People in the airline also pointed out that the management has reduced overtime allowance.

“At a time when both pilots and cabin crew are forced to work overtime due to various reasons, the management has reduced the allowance, further demotivating them,” a second airline official said, asking not to be named.

An Air India spokesperson did not respond to requests for a comment on the staff’s criticisms on the new pay structures.