Air India to pay 50% of staff on 3 July

AIR INDIA    BAILOUT PACKAGE    AVIATION INDUSTRY

India - The flagging airline has succumbed to pressure from a looming strike and will not defer the salary of 11,000, or half its employees as previously planned.

The National Aviation Company of India Limited (Nacil), parent company of Air India previously said June salaries would be deferred to 15 July due to a cash crunch at the airline.The 11,000 staff will now receive their salaries on 3 July. 

The decision to advance the payments followed talks between Nacil's management with a section of unions that had threatened to strike work for deferring salaries, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to Sify, The airline will hold another meeting on 4 July to discuss when the remaining 50% of employees will get their June salaries.

The airline has asked the union government for an approximately US$2 billion bailout package for the financial year ending March 2010.

George Abraham, general secretary of the Aviation Industry Employees' Guild said the list of 11,000 employees who will be paid on 3 July are largely lower grade employees, with the exception of 600 junior crew members.

Air India's monthly wage bill is approximately US$73 million.

While top management at Nacil has been pressing the government for extra financial assistance, the message coming through from the latter is that the airline will have to either shape up or ship out, Sify reported. 

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