Go Air offers pilots extra Rs 1,00,000 per month to stay on at crisis-hit airline

Beleaguered carrier Go Airlines India Ltd has planned to raise salaries of pilots by Rs 100,000 ($1,211) a month and by Rs 50,000 for first officers as it tries to salvage its operations after filing for insolvency on May 2.

The additional pay, which the airline calls a retention bonus, will come into effect on June 1, according to an email to pilots accessed by Bloomberg News. It will also be offered to those who have left the company but are willing to withdraw their resignations by June 15.

The crisis-hit airline, which rebranded as Go First two years ago, said it will also soon reintroduce an allowance called “longevity bonus” for long-serving staff.

Go Air’s captains currently earn about Rs 530,000 a month on an average, according to data on AmbitionBox, compared with Rs 750,000 at SpiceJet Ltd., which has increased wages twice in recent months.

Last week, the civil aviation regulator gave Go Air 30 days to submit a new revival plan, including details on how many pilots it has.

“If things shape up as per the present progress plan, it won’t take long before we will be flying again which will also enable us to be regular on salary payments,” the airline said in an official email to pilots.

The aviation sector is facing a shortage of staff globally as the world emerges from the pandemic. India’s biggest carrier IndiGo aims to hire 5,000 workers in the fiscal 2024, while Air India Ltd. plans to add more than 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots this year.

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