Days after it was reported that IndiGo is planning to give increments to its pilots, a new report reveals that Vistara will also hike the salaries of its pilots and cabin crew. The airline's finances have improved in the last year, and it also recorded its first profit in history in the previous quarter.
Salary hike
Vistara is ready to hike the salaries of its pilots and cabin crew as it makes a good recovery after the difficult pandemic years. According to Business Line, the airline will implement the salary increase from April 1st. The report quotes a person familiar with the matter as saying,
“The HR department met with the pilot and cabin crew departments earlier today. The pilots were informed that their salaries will be hiked by eight per cent on their CTC (cost to company) and cabin crew salaries will be hiked by six per cent starting April 1.”
This comes just days after reports of IndiGo restoring the annual increments of around 4,500 pilots. It will also implement the salary changes from April 1st.
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Better finances
Vistara and IndiGo are enjoying better finances following the fantastic festive and winter holiday seasons. Vistara announced a profitable October-December quarter in 2022, its first since it began operations in 2015.
While it still awaits its full financial results at the end of March, Vistara revealed that it had already crossed $1 billion in revenue this financial year. The airline is known for its onboard product as a full-service carrier, but it remained in the red all these years. The two years of COVID certainly did not help, either.
But, as travel restrictions lifted and passengers came out in huge numbers during the festive season, Vistara, along with all other carriers, enjoyed a busy and profitable third quarter. A healthy balance sheet has also enabled airlines to restore their employees' salaries, particularly of aircraft crew, with IndiGo and now Vistara leading the way in India.
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Merger plans
Vistara has plenty to look forward to. Its eventual merger with Air India is keeping most of its management busy, with reports suggesting that consultations are taking place across departments focusing on optimizing operations, employee salaries, and merging two different airline cultures into one.
While a consolidated product following the merger will likely be a strong player in the Indian aviation space, Vistara continues to treat Air India as competition until that happens. Indeed, it is going ahead with fleet and network expansion, welcoming new planes, and announcing new routes.
The airline is still awaiting approval from the Competition Commission of India, following which one could expect Vistara to start implementing joint plans with Air India.
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Source: Business Line