New Delhi: Air India on Monday said it has made changes in the compensation structure for pilots and cabin crew, including increasing the hourly flying rate for pilots.
Under the new structure, part of the Tata Group-owned airline’s five-year transformation plan, Air India and AIX Connect (including Air Asia India and Air India Express) will lay off over 2,700 pilots as well as increase the pay of over Rs. Will. A source said, 5,600 of Air India’s cabin crew.
According to an internal circular, “We are pleased to announce the revision of compensation of flying staff with effect from 1st April, 2023. We have redesigned the compensation of flying staff to simplify our compensation structure.”
After revision, the Guaranteed Flying Allowance component has been increased from the present 20 hours to 40 hours. However, this remained far less than in the pre-pandemic period when Air India pilots were entitled to a guaranteed 70 hours of flight time.
The one-year CTC of a trainee pilot is now Rs 50,000 per month while a senior commander will earn Rs 8.50 lakh per month.
Similarly, the salary of a new cabin crew has been pegged at Rs 25,000 per month, while a cabin executive will get Rs 78,000 per month, according to the circular.
Additional compensation will also be given to pilots undergoing training for the time spent in ground and simulator training for command upgrade and conversion training, the source said.
Apart from this, Air India has also hiked the hourly flying and flying allowance rates of the pilots.
The source said the airline will introduce an additional reward to recognize the long service of its tenured employees and double the stipend of trainee pilots.
Among others, the contracts of around 800 FTC (Fixed Term Contract) pilots, which were earlier renewed for 5 years, will now be extended till the pilots attain the age of 58 years.
Air India has around 4,700 FTC cabin crew and around 1,000 permanent cabin crew.
Air India will also introduce two additional levels/designations – Junior First Officer and Senior Commander.
The source said a large number of senior pilots, who have flown for four or more years as commanders, will be promoted to senior commander rank, allowing them to be immediately absorbed into the management cadre with the added allowance of executive duties. Will be able
The cabin crew organization structure for both permanent and FTC cabin crew has been redesigned into four segments – Trainee Cabin Crew, Cabin Crew, Cabin Senior and Cabin Executive.
According to sources, there will be a hike of more than 20 per cent in the trainee stipend for fresher and experienced cabin crew.
The airline will also double the domestic layover allowance and check crew allowance.
Besides this, it has also introduced additional allowances for cabin supervisors and their grooming.
In February, Air India announced plans to hire over 4,200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots this year. The airline has also placed orders for 470 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus.