Employees of the ground handling arm of debt-ridden Air India are expected to receive their salaries by next week, an official release claimed.
Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL) said Monday, “We regret to report the late payment of December 2019 salaries due to circumstances beyond management’s control. However, every effort will be made to make the payment at the earliest or by the next week,”
Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani said on January 4 that “rumors” about the closure of the disinvestment airline were “all unfounded”.
His comments came weeks after he informed the Ministry of Civil Aviation that the carrier’s financial situation was “ grossly untenable ” to maintain operations.
Air India’s net loss in 2018-19 was around Rs 8,556 crore, its current total debt is around Rs 80,000 crore.
“Airlines have shown interest in buying Air India, but we would like to wait for the final bids to come. The expectation is that not an airline but a consortium would bid for an airline of this size,” a government official was quoted as saying.
