PM discusses AI in his I-Day speech

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day speech announced the government would take steps to solve soon the problems faced by the beleaguered national carrier Air India. This was welcomed by the civil aviation ministry.

“We are giving careful attention to the problems of Air India and we will resolve them soon,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in his Independence Day address. He added that civil aviation schemes being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East “will be especially monitored”.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel welcomed the statement and said the mention of Air India in the speech showed the priority government is giving to bailout Air India.

 

“I am happy that Air India has found mention in the Prime Minister's Independence Day address, which shows the priority being accorded to Air India by the government,” Patel said.

National Aviation Company Ltd, which runs Air India, has incurred losses of Rs 5,000 crore in 2007-08. The airline also has a debt of Rs 16,000 crore, of which Rs 11,000 crore is high-cost debt.

Nacil, which was formed after merging Air India and Indian Airline, did not have money to pay July salaries to its staff. The senior officials foregoed July salaries on request from Airline CMD Arvind Jadhav. The government has formed a committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekher to look into the restructuring of the airline.

Air India has prepared a three-phased 36 months plan to come out of red. The plan includes switching to low-cost carrier mode, hiving off units and to list it in the 24-36 month period.