By IANS,
New Delhi : National carrier Air India, which posted a loss of Rs.7,200 crore last fiscal, Thursday said it was in talks with financial institutions to secure additional funds to pay salaries to its employees by Nov 10.
“Air India is in discussion with financial institutions to secure additional funds to meet its current liabilities, including payment towards salary and productivity-linked incentive to employees,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesman said efforts were being made to secure additional loans in the next few days, which would enable the airline to pay incentives and flying allowance to employees.
The statement comes after Air India pilots once again threatened to go on a strike from Nov 1, this time calling their proposed action “non-cooperation of work” instead of force majeure.
They are demanding productivity-linked incentives and other allowances.
A former president of Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA), Kapil Raina, said the pilots have only received basic salaries up to July, while productivity-linked incentives and other allowances, which account for the bulk of their pay packets, have not been paid to far.
ICPA members are adamant about going on an agitation and not cooperate with the management if they did not get their full arrears, including the October salary, by Nov 1.
“We will not cooperate till we get our salaries. For how long can we work for free?” asked Raina.
Recently, the airline pilots had gone on strike for five days on the same issue.
On Oct 21, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Civil Aviation deferred its decision on equity infusion of Rs.2,000 crore along with Rs.3,000 crore under a capital acquisition programme.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had said after the ministerial meeting that employees and the management of Air India should first come up with a proper cost-cutting plan if they expected government help.
Last month, a committee headed by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar proposed Rs.5,000 crore capital infusion for Air India over the next three years, with the condition that the airline would cut costs and raise its revenue.
The airline last month announced plans to cut performance-related pay by up to 50 percent for over 7,000 employees, including the top management, but the employees are not willing to take a cut.