The deferred hiring is because the airline wants to start low-cost operations to short-haul destinations other than just to the Gulf region.
The increase in the ambit of operations of AICL would save on the expense on emoluments to the crew as AICL would take over some of the current operations to Southeast Asia and the Gulf, official sources said.
Senior A-I cabin crew get a salary close to Rs 70,000 per month plus night-halt allowances, while the emoluments in case the services are contractual will be Rs 25,000 without a night-halt allowance.