Mumbai: Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri has asked disinvestment-bound Air India to set up an internal mechanism committee comprising members from the management and its various trade unions to sort out privatisation-related issues of employees, a source said Monday.
At a meeting Monday between the minister and representatives of over a dozen Air India unions in New Delhi, the minister also ‘assured’ the employees of full payment of their arrears, according to the source.
The nearly hour-long meeting was also attended by Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani and the airline’s Director for Personnel Amrita Sharan, the source who was present at the meeting said.
“The minister during the meeting told Air India to set up an internal mechanism committee with members both from the management and the unions to sort out the employees issues related to privatisation,” the source informed.
“Puri also assured the employees, mainly the pilots that the government was committed to full payment of their dues in the face of the privatisation,” the source added.
A group of ministers headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah approved January 7 the draft EoI and Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the disinvestment of Air India.
At his first meeting with the unions January 2, Puri had said privatisation was inevitable and cooperation of the employees was necessary in carrying out the exercise.
Media reports suggest that the new investor may be allowed to retain Air India’s some 11,000 employees only for one year after the carrier goes into private hands.
In 2018-19, Air India’s net loss was around Rs 8,556 crore. The airline has a debt burden of more than Rs 80,000 crore.
PTI