Air India Gives Salary Increments to Staff; Announces Target Performance Bonus for Pilots

Air India on Thursday announced annual salary increments for its staff, and also introduced an annual target performance bonus for pilots, according to sources. This is the first appraisal process after Tata Group took over the loss-making airline a little over two years ago. 

The quantum of monthly hike varies from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 for pilots, depending on their experience and position. The annual target performance bonus for pilots can be up to Rs 1.80 lakh, the sources said. 

On Thursday, Air India CHRO Ravindra Kumar GP announced salary increments for employees, with effect from April 1, 2024, as well as performance bonus payouts for FY 2023-24 based on company and individual performance, according to the sources. 

The airline has rolled out annual appraisals for all employees, who joined before December 31, 2023, including ground staff, cabin crew and pilots. The appraisals are based on the new Performance Management System (Rise.AI). 

In addition to the increase in fixed pay for FY 2023-24, the sources said the airline has introduced a component of annual target performance bonus for its pilots based on company and individual performance, and it will be applicable from FY2024-25. 

With the salary revision, the monthly fixed pay of first officers and captains will increase by Rs 5,000 each. In the case of commanders and senior commanders, the monthly hike will be Rs 11,000 and Rs 15,000, respectively, the sources said. There will be no hike in the monthly fixed pay for junior first officers. 

The annual target performance bonus will be paid on the basis of the company's and an individual's performance. Subject to meeting the expectations, a junior first officer will get the annual bonus of Rs 42,000 and the amount will be Rs 60,000 per annum for first officers as well as commanders, the sources said. For commanders, the annual bonus will be Rs 1.32 lakh and Rs 1.80 lakh for senior commanders. 

This is the first appraisal of Air India staff after the takeover by the Tata Group in January 2022. Last year, only compensation and contract restructuring for legacy employees were done, the sources said. 

They said that Air India, which is in the process of revamping itself under a five-year transformation plan, is providing competitive salary increments to attract and retain talent as part of larger efforts to have a performance-driven and meritocratic culture among the employees. 

While announcing the appraisals, CHRO Kumar said that in the last financial year, the airline achieved key milestones of laying strong foundations for growth and transformation. 

As part of the Vihaan.AI journey, the airline introduced the contemporary annual performance appraisal process Rise.AI and also transitioned to a simplified, market-competitive and productivity-oriented compensation structure for employees, he added. 

In late 2022, Air India announced the five-year transformation plan Vihaan.AI. 

Air India group has four airlines -- Air India, Air India Express, AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) and Vistara. Air India Express is merging AIX Connect with itself, and Vistara will be merging with Air India.