209 Air India employees submit EoI for 51% stake in national carrier

A group of 209 Air India employees has submitted an expression of interest for the national carrier in partnership with a private financier. The bid process is being led by Meenakshi Mallik, who is the current commercial director at Air India.

“We have submitted an EoI along with a partner who will give us financial backing,” Malik confirmed to Business Standard refusing to disclose further details as they are confidential.

While rules allow bid by Air India employees, disinvestment guidelines mandate that the company will not be able to partner any private company. It has to partner with either a bank or a financial institution.

Apart from the financier's backing, each employee willing to participate in the bid will be asked to contribute Rs 1 lakh towards the bid.

The consortium of employees plans to hold a 51 per cent stake in the airline, while the remaining 49 per cent is supposed to be held by financial partners.

“Due to the support we will receive from our financial partner, I anticipate that each of us will have to make a contribution of no more Rs 1,00,000, to bid for the company, this is a detail which I will be better placed to convey to you all once we have passed the initial stage of the EoI. Moreover, after successfully completing stage one, we are planning our bid in such a way that no single employee will have to take on a financial risk or contribute more than Rs 1,00,000," Malik had earlier written in a communication to employees urging them to bid.

However, a large section of Air India employees, including pilots and cabin crew unions like IPG and ICPA, has advised their members not to participate in the airline's disinvestment process, saying that the management has still not addressed their concerns over "disproportionate" pay cuts, which have been in effect since April this year.