Airasia cuts pilot salaries by 40% for May & June
Airasia India has slashed salaries of its pilots by an average 40 per cent for May and June, an airline source said. However, the amount of reduction in pay for other categories and senior management remains at the April level, he said. The senior management at Airasia India had taken a pay cut of 20 per cent in April.
Airasia India has slashed salary of its pilots by an average 40 per cent for May and June, an airline source said.
However, the quantum of reduction in pay for other categories and senior management remains at the April level, he said.
The senior management at Airasia India had taken a pay cut of 20 per cent in April, while the wages of executives falling in other categories were reduced between 7 per cent and 17 per cent. However, employees getting a salary of ~50,000 per month or less were spared of the move.
The TATA-SIA joint venture carrier, which will be completing six years of operations next week, has a workforce of around 2,500 people.
As many as 600 of them are pilots for its 30 Airbus A320 aircraft fleet.
“Earlier, a pilot was being paid for a fixed 70 hours irrespective of flying or no flying, which has now been reduced to 20 hours. This way, the average salary of a junior pilot has come down to ~40,000 per month from 1.40 lakh, and that of a senior pilot to ~1 lakh from 3.45 lakh,” the source said.
The reduction in pay accounts for 40 per cent of the total average salary of a pilot, he said.
Responding to a query on the issue, a spokesperson said, “We do not comment on the internal matters pertaining to the company.” The source also said that the airline has deferred its plans to induct any new plane in the fleet for the time being.
“The airline’s assessment is that the sector may take about two years to recover fully and domestic players are unlikely to expand network in the short-to-medium term in view of the demand. In this situation, fleet expansion will not serve any purpose in the next couple of quarters," the source said.