AI staff offers their perks to stop carrier's privatisation

Mumbai: Amid talks related to the proposed privatisation of Air India, AI employees posted across the country, including Mumbai, have offered their salaries to the national carrier in order to use the money to pay off the debts, as they don't want it to get privatised.

The employees have been writing letters to the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Ashwani Lohani asking the management to contribute some amount and other perks to them for the benefit of the company. The carrier has a debt of Rs 50,000 crore. One of the employees, a senior captain, even volunteered to donate his June salary.

Letters that have been written from the senior captains from the airline are of the view that if they can make the smallest of difference in the ocean of the debt, they will do every bit to save the airline. According to sources these are the senior employees in the airline, who have spent a minimum of 10 years working for it. The airline has a total of around 140 aircrafts and around 21 thousand permanent employees. One of the senior employees from Mumbai wrote to Lohani last week, that she has been able to live her dreams and has gained a reputable status in the society because of the airline and hence in an attempt to help the airline get over the loan she wrote to contribute an amount of Rs 2,00,000 from her transport claims. Not only this, the employee also stated that she would not claim her transportation amount until Air India gets over the debt.

A senior Cabin Crew in charge of Air India Express, in his letter stated that he would be contributing towards the airline by not claiming his flying allowances, layover allow-ances, be it domestic or international. The Delhi based Cabin crew in charge has also requested Lohani to allow him to work for a month without any payment. In his letter he stated  ‘Let the money be added towards the generation of revenue.’ Sources say that there are similar such letters that will be received by the CMD in the coming week.

FUTURE OF THE CARRIER

Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and his Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on June 1 discussed the future of Air India. They indicated that a decision on privatisation would be taken within three months. The meeting held importance as Jaitley pitched for disinvestments of Air India and government’s policy NITI Aayog to submit its recommendations on making the carrier strong and practical. It however, is not the first time that the idea of making the national carrier privatised has been spoken about.