Air India’s board on Wednesday decided to cut productivity-linked incentives (PLIs) of its employees by up to 50 per cent in a graded structure that would be saving the company about Rs 580 crore annually.

The cut in PLIs by the loss-making airline, which is now waiting for a government bailout, will be applicable to all officers and the decision was based on the recommendation of the committee headed by director-personnel Anup Srivastava.

“The cut, applicable to all officers, including top management personnel, in various management disciplines, will range from 25 per cent for those getting PLI of Rs 10,000 or less per month and 50 per cent for those receiving PLI or flying related allowances of Rs 2 lakh or more per month,” said the carrier’s spokesperson.

Accordingly, the slabs for PLI cut has been graded into Rs 10,001-Rs 25,000, Rs 25,001-Rs 50,000 and Rs 50,001-Rs 2 lakh. And the cuts would be 35 per cent, 40 per cent and 45 per cent respectively.

However, sections of Air India employees had said on Tuesday that any cuts in their PLIs would be dealt with strong opposition as they regarded PLIs as part of their wages. “Since Air India is a government company, our pay structure cannot be as much as the private airlines and that is why it was decided in 1993 to increase our packages through PLIs,” said YV Raju, general secretary, All India Aircraft Engineers Association (AIAEA), an erstwhile Indian Airlines union.

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