Smoke and Mirrors
I am willing to stick my neck out and state that woodja51 was correct in his assumption. I have gone over the letter and its amendment several times and am of the firm belief that this is a 3% step increase and the value of each step has been increased by the grand total of 5%. ie, if your basic salary is AED34,000, your 3% step increase would be AED1,020, but in their generosity they have decided to "increase the value of each step" by 5%. An increase of 5% on AED1,020 is AED51.00.
So all those people who think they are getting 8% or more, are deluded, which is probably what the Management want them to be. Don't you think that if they were offering you 8%, they would say that, giving themselves a big pat on the back for being so generous. As it is, they are sitting in their big offices chuckling at the mass confusion amongst their pilots and future pilots, that is, for another 14 days, until we get our pay packets.... then all will become apparent.
My advice is, boys don't take out any big loans based on your big pay increases! Go enjoy an extra Costa Coffee instead!