The airline is also set to restore crew layover allowances and meal arrangements for pilots and cabin crew at the same time.

The development comes as the new owner of the airline, the Tata Group, has begun the process of fully restoring employee salaries as part of a wider restructuring of wages and allowances in order to align them with those of its three other airlines.

Tata Sons-owned Vistara and AirAsia India had restored the salaries and flying allowances of pilots to pre-pandemic levels in May.

In April, Air India had restored salaries to almost 75% of the pre-pandemic level. Then, it restored 20% of the flying allowances.

At present, salaries are 35% below the levels before the Covid outbreak. Special pay of pilots and wide body allowances will be restored by 25%, after having been slashed by 40%.

“While we have much to do to return to profitability and in our mission of bringing back Air India back to the heights of world aviation, sunsetting most of the Covid measures is an important and welcome milestone,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said in a note to employees.

Earlier this month, IndiGo had partially reinstated salaries of its pilots with the stabilisation and growth in its operations. The company announced an 8% increase in salaries of pilots with effect from April. In 2020, it had cut salaries of pilots by 28%.