Pilots of Go First are likely to approach resolution professional (RP) Shailendra Ajmera to complain that the airline has till date not issued them letters raising their salaries as promised last month. To retain pilots, the airline had offered to raise monthly salaries of captains by Rs 100,000 and that of first officers by Rs 50,000 towards the end of May. The move was termed by the airline as retention allowance. Currently, the monthly average salary of a captain at the carrier is Rs 530,000.
In an internal mail, Go First had said that the increased salaries will come into effect from June 1 and will include all captains and first officers who are released online for flying and are on the company’s payroll as on May 31. It has said it will also include those who may have resigned till date but are willing to withdraw their resignations by June 15.
However, according to a section of pilots, they are yet to receive any letter to this effect. They said that on June 15 they received a whatsapp message from deputy chief pilot that their increment letters will be uploaded by the end of the day, but nothing of the sort happened. The whatsapp message, seen by FE, also said that the airline will start operating its flights by middle of next week.
Interestingly, the whatsapp message to the pilots followed the intimation by the carrier that the suspension of its operations has been extended till June 19.
When contacted by FE, airline sources said that the effective date of increments is June 1, so increased salaries will be disbursed on July 1, so there’s still time to hand over the increment letters.
At present, GoFirst has over 400 pilots on its rolls. The carrier, which filed for voluntary insolvency on May 3, has a total of 7,000 employees on its rolls and while accepting its insolvency petition, the NCLT has directed the carrier not to retrench any staff.
The airline has committed a default of Rs 2,660 crore towards aircraft lessors and Rs 1,202 crore towards its vendors. Its total liabilities is at Rs 11,463 crore, of which bank dues are of Rs 6,521 crore. Of this, Rs 1,300 has been drawn under the government’s emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS).
The airline has a total fleet strength of 54. Of this, 28 aircraft are grounded due to engine issues with Pratt & Whitney, and 26 are operational. Lessors have moved directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) demanding deregistration of 45 planes. The matter is currently sub judice before the National Company Law Tribunal and the Delhi high court.
Meanwhile, the airline is hopeful that the newly appointed resolution professional will shortly give approval to its revival plan, which will subsequently be cleared by the lenders. It also expects the lenders to approve the additional funding which it has sought.
According to sources, the carrier is looking at an interim funding of Rs 200-400 crore to restart operations.