The Basic salary is not great. But they have allowances based on years of service, a Language proficiency allowance (about 10K per language), Grooming allowance, Tea allowance etc. All these are fixed.
Then the variable allowances kick in when they are on duty based on block hours (Productivity allowances) plus meal allowances (Lay-over & Turn-around).
All adds up to a reasonable amount.
At a recent COPE meeting the following came to light....
A senior management officer serving in Sri Lankan Airlines receives a monthly salary of Rs. 3.1 million as on 31st March 2021 while 82 pilots of the airline receive a monthly salary of over Rs. 02 million.
Meanwhile, another 142 pilots, 12 aeronautical engineers, 09 engineering managers and 3 top management officers of Sri Lankan Airlines receive a monthly salary of between Rs. 1 million and Rs. 2 million.