"Dear fellow employee,

I know it is hard to get rid of the general feeling of anxiety that we all feel as we face a future riddled with uncertainties and unknowns. When will the lockdown be lifted? What will be the nature of flying after that? How strongly will traffic rebound? In situations such as these, it is best not to spend too much time thinking about things that we have no control over; it is more effective to focus all our energies on the forces on which we exercise a great deal of control.

The most critical area on which we exercise a great deal of control is on our personal health. We need to pay close attention to the advice of the government and the health experts on social distancing and personal hygiene. I am saddened that we have had one instance of corona virus in our IndiGo family and I urge you to take care of yourself such that there are no more instances.

Managing revenues is the fun and exciting part of the airline business, managing costs in a severe downturn is the dull and painful part of the business. Right now, we have little control over our revenues and a lot of control over our costs and therefore that is where we are focusing all our energies. We have always been a very cost-conscious company and going forward we will be sharpening up our core competence even more. Our one source of revenue generation right now is in Cargo operations and I want to thank all the people across the company who are working tirelessly to make an all- cargo operation work for us.

Another area where we can exercise control is in shaping the nature of the customer experience as we take to the skies again. We are working actively with the Government, the airports, and our competitor airlines in defining the nature of this experience. Customers will probably start flying tentatively at first and we need to make sure that we instill enough confidence in the early users so that the first trickle of customers turns into a torrent.

So, we have two prime enemies we have to battle with. The first is the live force of the virus that is a threat to our health and the second is the dead hand of economics which is likely to dampen customer demand in the immediate future. But against these enemies, we can take strength from the fact that we have a lot of resources to draw upon: human resilience, the Government, the entire ecosystem of the airline industry and most importantly our very special employee culture marked by its fortitude, its ingenuity and its dedication. I know we are going through a rough patch, but I have total confidence that we will be back in a few months to the exciting days of growth and new station openings

Let us now turn our attention to the immediate issue of April pay. In deference to our Government’s wishes of not reducing pay during the lockdown, we have decided not to implement the previously announced pay cuts during the month of April. However, your Excom members and SVPs have volunteered to take pay cuts this month. For everyone else, you can expect your April salaries to be paid without the pay cuts.

Stay strong, stay healthy. And I look forward to having celebratory parties with you, on the other side of this crisis

Best regards,

Rono"

NEW DELHI: At a time of endemic pay cuts and layoffs across all sectors, IndiGo has decided to pay full salary for April to a majority of its employees. Last month, the low cost carrier (LCC) had announced graded pay cuts up to 25%, while sparing the junior most workers.“In deference to our government’s wishes of not reducing pay during lockdown, we have decided not to implement the previously announced pay cuts during the month of April. However, your (senior) members and senior VPs have volunteered to take pay cuts this month. For everyone else, you can expect your April salaries to be paid without the pay cuts,” IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta told employees in a mail on Thursday.In a mail sent on March 19, 2020, Dutta had detailed the cuts: 25% for himself; 20% for senior VPs and above; 15% for VPs and pilots; 10% for cabin crew; 5% for others and no cuts for those drawing salary at junior levels. IndiGo's employee cost was Rs 3,210.6 crore in fiscal 2018-19.In his mail on Thursday, Dutta advised employees not to “spend too much time thinking about things that we have no control over; it is more effective to focus all our energies on the forces on which we exercise a great deal of control” like personal health and cost-cutting. The airline recently lost an employee to coronavirus.“Right now, we have little control over our revenues and a lot of control over our costs and therefore, that is where we are focusing all our energies … Our one source of revenue generation right now is in cargo operations,” Ronojoy, or Rono as he is known as, says in his mail.The airline is focussing on flying experience when the same resumes. “We are working actively with the government, the airports, and our competitor airlines in defining the nature of this experience. Customers will probably start flying tentatively at first and we need to make sure that we instill enough confidence in the early users so that the first trickle of customers turns into a torrent,” he says.“Stay strong, stay healthy. And I look forward to having celebratory parties with you, on the other side of this crisis,” he signs off. An emotion shared by most companies and employees alike these days.Here is the full text of IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta mail to employees: