Saturday, March 05, 2011

Cash-strapped Air India defers Feb pay

New Delhi: Air India has deferred the payment of February salary to its over 32,000 employees. The airline on Thursday told the chief labour commissioner (CLC) that due to a "severe cash crunch" and committed payments to oil companies and interest repayment, "the company is not in a position to pay salary on time". It added that AI is trying to "organize funds from different sources" and will accordingly inform employees about the date of salary payment.
While salary delays are becoming an almost regular feature in cash-strapped AI, a letter sent from the management to employees on Thursday has added to their heartburn. The letter, among other things, says that the airline has been making operational profits since last November. "If the management's claim of making profit is correct, then why is it not able to pay us on time?" asked an employee.
Despite the management's claims of improved performance, the airline has been slipping deeper into the red since the merger of AI and IA in 2007. The Maharaja has lost Rs 3,450.6 crore during the first half of FY11, according to aviation minister Vayalar Ravi. The losses in FY08, FY09 and FY2010 have been Rs 2,226.2 crore, Rs 5,548.3 crore and Rs 5,552.4 crore, respectively.
The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), the union of pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines that has threatened to go on strike from Wednesday over issues like lack of pay parity with their AI counterparts, has been told that its issues can't be resolved in isolation.
05/03/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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