Indigo airlines to restore allowances for pilots, crew to pre-pandemic level from July 31

At the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indigo Airline had announced the suspension of allowances for its staff; it is to be noted that the flight services were severely affected at the time.

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Indigo has announced that the airline will be restoring the flying allowance of its pilots to the pre-pandemic levels. The action comes amidst the recovery of the flight operations. The airline said in a statement that pilots' layover and deadhead allowances will be reinstated on July 31. It is to be noted that earlier, the airline had done a partial reinstatement of pilots' pay and have yet to be restored to their pre-covid levels. In addition, other allowances like overtime and night allowances are also yet to be restored.

It is to be noted that during long flights, pilots and cabin crew members frequently have to stop in other cities. Many allowances are granted to the staff who are staying in the layover city, as well as a hotel stay for the duration of their stay.

IndiGo had stopped all of these allowances while flight services were significantly disrupted, including a two-month stoppage owing to the Covid pandemic's impact.

Based on Business Standard's report, the airline said it was working on a Forex Card for crews as well as a Zonal Employee Discount (ZED), which allows employees to travel on partner airlines at a subsidised rate.

At the time of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, IndiGo airline had declared that senior staff' salaries will be halved starting in May. In addition, the corporation will implement a leave without pay policy for the months of May, June, and July.

Back in 2020, in an email to staff, Indigo CEO Ronojoy Dutta stated that, in addition to wage cuts, the company must take the "difficult step" of instituting a "limited, graded leave without pay programme" for the months of May, June, and July, ranging from 1.5 to 5 days depending on employee group.