Air India sets up panel to address privatisation-related issues of staff

Air India on Tuesday constituted a nine-member committee to look into staff-related issues in the wake of proposed disinvestment of the carrier, according to a notification.

The panel has been set up a day after discussions between Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and representatives of various Air India unions.

Puri had asked the airline 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 had said on Monday.

The committee would look into "HR (Human Resources) issues of the employees in the wake of the disinvestment of Air India Ltd," the notification said.

Apart from three general managers of the airline, there are six representatives from various employee unions, as per the notification.

The committee will regularly meet to crystallise issues within 10 days, it added.

On January 7, a group of ministers headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah approved the draft Expression of Interest (EoI) and Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for disinvestment of Air India.

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.