IndiGo chaos aftermath: Airline to increase pilot allowances; aim to boost staff morale

IndiGo will pilot allowances and add new ones from January 1 to boost staff morale, according to PTI sources. This comes weeks after the airline faced massive disruptions with 4,500 flight cancellations due to rostering issues. The move follows meetings between executives and pilots at various bases, as the carrier also faces pressure from foreign airlines trying to recruit its pilots.The airline is increasing several key benefits for its pilots which includes Captains getting upto Rs 3,000 rupees instead of Rs 2,000 for layovers, while first officers will receive Rs 1,500, up from Rs 1,000, revealed the sources cited by PTI. For deadheading trips, where crew travel as passengers for their next duty, captains will get Rs 4,000, up from Rs 3,000 and first officers will receive Rs 2,000 rupees, a Rs 500 increase.The changes affect IndiGo’s roughly 5,000 pilots and come at a critical time. The airline, which controls 65 per cent of India’s domestic market, is under close watch from regulators. A special committee has already submitted its report about the recent flight cancellations to the civil aviation ministry.Additonally, Moody’s Ratings has cautioned that the airline might face “significant financial damage” from lost revenue, customer refunds, and potential government penalties following the cancellations, as quoted by Reuters.The airline is also dealing with a broader industry challenge. Foreign airlines are luring Indian pilots to join them with better remuneration and lifestyle packages. This has become a problem to the extent that the government is now promoting a code of conduct internationally for recruiting pilots, according to Reuters.The recent mass cancellations at the beginning of this month caused chaos at the airports, leaving many stranded passengers across the country in India.The mass cancellations earlier this month caused widespread chaos at airports and left thousands of passengers stranded across India. Despite the airline’s dominance in the domestic market, this incident has triggered both regulatory scrutiny and a competition investigation.