New Delhi: Debt-ridden Air India, which has not paid its July month salary, issued a notice to its staffs stating that it is making all efforts to disburse them by the next week. This is the fifth consecutive month that the national carrier has failed to pay salaries to its employees on time.
Air India general manager for human resources said in the notice, “We regret to inform the delay in payment of salaries for the month of July due to circumstances beyond the control of the management. However, all efforts are being made to make the payments by next week.”
Air India has more than 11,000 permanent staff. Generally, the airline disburses salaries by the 30th or the 31st of every month. There was a delay in payments in March, April, May, and June as well. The national carrier, which is facing an acute financial crunch, is set to get an additional funding of Rs 980 crore from the government.
On July 26, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha that there was a short delay in the payment of salaries for May and that the same was paid subsequently. Under its turnaround plan and financial restructuring plan approved by the government in April 2012, Air India is to receive a budgetary support of Rs 30,231 crore over a 10-year period ending March 2021.
On May 31, the government had said no initial bids were received for the strategic disinvestment for the loss-making carrier The government has proposed selling 76 per cent stake in debt-laden carrier Air India. The Civil Aviation Ministry has sought Expression of Interest (EoI) for the stake sale in the loss-making carrier and two of its subsidiaries.
In June 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave the in-principle nod to the strategic disinvestment of the airline, which has a debt burden of over Rs 50,000 crore. Earlier, Jet Airways has also delayed salary for the month of March citing “circumstances beyond its control.”
