Even as the salary issue is snowballing into a crisis, Air India on Thursday tried to quell fears, saying it is working towards salary payment to employees from Friday, as discussed with the airline?s unions earlier. However, the unions are not convinced.
The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil), which owns Air India, had earlier said it will defer June salaries by 15 days. This infuriated the airline?s unions, prompting them to threaten agitation if salaries were not paid on time.
AI said as salaries and wages are paid through electronic clearance system (ECS), many formalities are to be complied with. The airline also said that it is in the process of identifying various departments and grades of employees who are to be given their salaries on July 3.
On the flip side, unions said so far there has been no communication from the management about payment of salaries on Friday. George Abraham, general secretary, Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG), has threatened a demonstration between 1-3 pm across airports in India in case the management fails to pay their salaries as agreed upon earlier.
Nacil had earlier expressed its inability to pay June salaries to its 31,000 employees citing a liquidity crunch in the company. It had also requested senior officials of general manager rank and above to forgo July salary to help the organisation tide over the crisis. Nacil is understood to have made a presentation on Thursday before civil aviation minister Praful Patel as part of its efforts to seek a financial package from the government to bail it out of a major resource crunch. The national carrier, which is working on plans to cut cost on employees by at least Rs 500 crore, came out with several proposals to enhance savings over the next few years. The airline?s cost on its 31,000 employees currently stands at around Rs 3,000 crore per annum.
AI has already approached the government for urgent infusion of funds by way of equity, soft loans and grant. The airline has started making payments on aircraft deliveries, which are part of its orders for 111 planes, worth about Rs 50,000 crore.