Privatisation talks on, aviation minister meets AI staff unions

As national carrier Air India prepares for privatisation, 13 employee unions met aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday to make sure their interests are

As national carrier Air India prepares for privatisation, 13 employee unions met aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday to make sure their interests are protected in the disinvestment process.

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The minister is reported to have told the unions that the airline cannot survive and will have to be privatised. Puri tweeted, “Had a long & useful discussion with representatives of various @airindiain unions in the context of the forthcoming privatisation of the airline[ [sic].”

An airline official, privy to the developments, said, “The state government has made it clear that no expert has a solution to save the national carrier which has a debt of ₹80,000 crore, due to which privatisation is the only option left.”

An Air India official, who was part of the meeting, said, “We discussed our major issues such as job protection, clearing of our dues held on account of 25% reduction in wages/allowances, continuation of medical benefits, gratuity and provident fund protection, leave encashment among others. The minister told us that he had already committed to clear the pending dues in the parliament and that the government will try to incorporate it in the Expression of Interest (EoI) in order to protect employees’ jobs.”

Though the minister is not reported to have commented on prospective buyers, officials present at the meeting said, the airline would come up for EoI by month-end, asking prospective buyers to submit proposals to buy a stake in the ownership.

The one-hour meeting began at 4pm and was attended by 26 union representatives at Nirman Bhawan, Delhi. Apart from Puri, aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola and Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani were present.

Another meeting with the unions is scheduled to take place after 10 days.