Tata-owned Air India will restore salaries that were cut in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic from September 1, according to a communication.
The loss-making airline, which was taken over by Tatas, has also decided to revise crew layover allowances and meal arrangements from September 1. Tata Group took control of Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express on January 27 this year after successfully winning the bid for the airline.
In the communication to the employees, Air India Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) Campbell Wilson said the airline “will be restoring the salary reduction for all employees with effect from September 1, 2022”, the PTI reported.
While the airline has much to do to return to profitability, “sunsetting most of the Covid-19 measures is an important and welcome milestone”, he said.
The coronavirus pandemic had significantly impacted the airline industry, and the operators had resorted to cost-cutting measures, including salary reductions, to manage their financials.
Tata Sons will likely have to make a provision of Rs 2,600 ($325.69 million) as accumulated losses for its low-cost carrier AirAsia India. The conglomerate is seeking to absorb Air Asia India unit Air India and merge with Air India Express, according to The Economic Times.
According to a report by Reuters, Tata Group-owned Air India proposed to buy the entire equity share capital of AirAsia India earlier this year, in which Tata has a majority stake, to merge into a single airline.
Tata Sons has an 83.67 per cent stake in AirAsia India.
No decision has been taken on whether the write-off will be included in the balance sheet of Tata Sons or Air India, the report said.
Meanwhile, the government recently said that Air India reported the most number of incidents of technical snags in the one year period till June 30, followed by budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet.