Go First to stop pilots’ retention allowance from July

Go First, which is undergoing insolvency proceedings, has reportedly informed pilots that it will stop paying their retention allowance from July.

This comes less than a month after the airline announced a retention allowance in an attempt to retain its employees who were looking for greener pastures soon after the airline applied under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

In an internal email in May, Go First had said that it would pay a retention allowance of Rs 1 lakh to captains and Rs 50,000 to first officers, per month.

With effect from 1st June 2023, salaries for pilots will be revised and retention allowance will be applicable to all captains and first officers who are on the company’s payroll, the company email read. The retention allowance, as per the email, was also applicable to those who had resigned but were willing to take their resignation back by June 15.

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“It was just a ploy by the management to retain pilots when they had opportunities to join other airlines. Now that all the jobs are gone, they have removed the retention bonus,” said a person aware of the developments inside the company. Sources further informed DH that the company squarely put it on the Committee of Creditors and the recently appointed Resolution Professional, calling this their decision.

A Go First spokesperson told DH that this is not applicable to the pilots who are with Go, but to those who have resigned and joined other airlines.

While the company made the retention announcement in May, so far Go First has not released any such allowance to its employees, the spokesperson confirmed. The first retention allowance (for June) was expected to be credited by the end of the month. Employees also informed DH that the airline has not yet credited salaries for the month of May.

Earlier in May, Go First had refused to issue no-objection certificates (NOC), experience certificates, no dues certificate and attestation of logbooks (in spite of it being a statutory requirement) to pilots who resigned earlier or immediately after the company filed for insolvency resolution, DH had reported. The Federation of Indian Pilots, in a letter to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, raised concerns about its members being held to prolonged notice periods by Go First despite not being paid salaries for April.

The debt-laden airline had filed for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings on May 2, following which the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) directed the carrier not to retrench any staff.

Employees informed DH that while the airline’s senior management has been hopeful about restarting operations in the next month, “contractual obligations” were not being fulfilled which forced many pilots to look for jobs in other airlines.

Meanwhile, the airline has further suspended operations till June 25.