SpiceJet on Thursday said that it will pay part salaries to over 92 percent of its employees but as per the work hours contributed.

"As a fair measure to cater to the requirement of our employees during this complete lock-down situation, the Company has devised a structure where all employees will be paid according to the work hours contributed while maintaining basic thresholds. The salaries would be credited on May 1," the airline said in a statement.

The airline said that despite the complete shutdown of operations except for cargo flights, the airline has not taken any decision of job cuts and will pay part salaries to over 92 percent of its employees.

On April 29, the airline's chief of flight operations wrote to pilots informing them that the airline would not pay salaries for April and May and would pay only those pilots who have flown the cargo flights since the flying ban began on March 25 and even these pilots will be paid only for the block hours flown.

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Sources said that ideally, the pilot contract at SpiceJet is to fly 80 hours a month and in case, the airline fails to allocate 80 hours of flying for the pilot, full salary is paid nonetheless. However, currently, the airline is paying pilots only for the number of hours that they are flying.

As of April 29, the airline was operating with 16 percent capacity in terms of aircraft and 20 percent in terms of pilot strength, the company official had informed the pilots.

It is important to note that the airline had informed pilots towards the end of March that it had formed a "long term plan" to protect jobs. Under this plan, the airline had informed that the salary for March would be cut by 25 percent, payment won't be paid for March 25-31 due to lockdown and it would pay March salary in two installments. However, these installments were also not paid on time and were delayed.

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"Both installments were received late. The first installment was received by the first week of April and some have received the second installment of March salary as late as April 15. Pilots who used to get Rs 1.75-2 lakh in hand got Rs 10,000-20,000. Some even got as low as Rs 3,000. The situation is worrisome for them," sources in the airline had told CNBC-TV18.

Domestic air passenger movement is suspended since March 25 in line with the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. SpiceJet has been operating some cargo flights via its cargo arm called SpiceXpress which has five freighters. The airline has also deployed some passenger aircraft for cargo operations.

The lockdown in the country is set to end on May 3 but there is no word on passenger flight resumption so far from the government. While airlines have been seeking relief from the government to tide through the crisis, there has been no announcement so far.

"These are temporary measures during these demanding times and we will consider reverting back to our basic structure upon restart of operations and return to normalcy and shall also be considering suitable allowances for our operating crew who stand together with us amid uncertainty until we restart," the airline said in a press statement today.