SriLankan Chairman says salaries of top mgt cannot be disclosed due to “personal nature”

• Says salary bill of top mgt less than 1% of total wage cost of airline
• “The chairman and the directors not paid a salary or any allowances”- Dias
• Assures unions will be consulted when restructuring plan implemented

SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ajith Dias says the remunerations and benefits enjoyed by the airline’s top management cannot be disclosed due to their “personal nature” and assured that the salary bill of the senior management amounts to less than 1 percent of the total wage cost of the company. 

A formal request was made through the Right to Information Act by the Airlines Pilots Guild of Sri Lanka (ALPGSL) for information regarding the benefits enjoyed by the top management of SriLankan as well as details pertaining to the agreements to lease new aircraft and their eventual cancellation.

“SriLankan Airlines is a US $ 950 million (Rs.140 billion) company in terms of revenue and needs highly skilled and experienced management, employed at market rates in keeping with specialized companies both here and abroad. 

The chairman and the directors are not paid a salary or any allowances,” Dias said in a recent letter to employee unions of the airline. 

However, in Dias’ letter, dated December 15, addressed to five employee unions of the debt-ridden airline, did not mention anything about why details with regards to the aircraft lease agreements and their subsequent cancellation could not be given out.

The letter was a response to a letter by the unions dated December 12, 2017, which was copied to the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers. 
The letter was highly critical of the SriLankan management, directors and their inability to turnaround the airline.

It also blamed the top management and the board for compromising the livelihood of nearly 7,000 employees.

However, Dias in his letter stressed that the possible closure of the airlines due to its dire finances is not in anybody’s interest specially at a time where there is little demand in the Middle East for trained and competent staff due to the present downturn of the global airline industry. 

He also said they are working closely with the official committee appointed by the government to restructure the airline and assured that they will engage with the unions in the implementation of the restructuring plan.

Dias in his letter implied that it is unfair to criticize the airline’s top management and the board of directors for not being able to turnaround the airline as several restructuring plans they submitted to the government did not receive approval due to government’s financial constraints. 

“The current board of directors took office in 2015 of a Company with considerable losses, aircraft leases at unworkable rates and unjustifiable and unproductive Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs),” the letter stated.