Budget carrier SpiceJet on May 23 announced that it has increased salaries of its pilots as part of the airline's ongoing 18th anniversary celebrations. The airline had operated its first commercial flight on May 23, 2005 from Delhi to Ahmedabad.
According to a statement, salary of Captains has been increased to Rs 7.5 lakh per month for 75 hours of flying. The hike is applicable from May 16, 2023. The airline had earlier revised salaries for its pilots from November 2022, wherein the salary of Captains had been raised to Rs 7 lakh a month for 80 hours of flying.
Further, salaries of Trainers (DE, TRI) and First Officers has also been increased commensurately.
Additionally, the airline has announced a tenure-linked monthly loyalty reward for its Captains of up to Rs 1 lakh per month which would be over and above their monthly remuneration, SpiceJet added.
The airline, which completed 18 years of operations today, is facing financial headwinds and has undertaken a ''restructuring exercise'' to further reduce the liabilities.
On May 11, SpiceJet said it has no plans to file for insolvency proceedings and has also started the process of reviving its grounded fleet with $50 million.
The statement had come in the backdrop of a lessor filing an insolvency resolution plea against the airline and crisis-hit rival Go First being admitted for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
In a message to the staff, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said that as part of the airline's overall growth strategy, ''a restructuring exercise is underway to further reduce the liability of the company as it will allow us to pursue our growth targets with focused efficiency''.
Meanwhile, shares of SpiceJet tumbled nearly 14 percent on May 23, falling to its 52-week low level in intra-day trade, as investors continued to desert the counter. The stock tanked 13.93 percent to close at Rs 24.16 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it plummeted 19.30 percent to its 52-week low of Rs 22.65.
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