AI to pay salaries by Oct 31 after pilots threatened “industrial action”

An Air India pilot proceeds to attend his duty after pilots called off their strike, at Chennai Airport in Chennai on September 30th, 2009. File Photo: S.S. Kumar

With an impending stir threat by its pilots, Air India is likely to pay the September salaries of its employees in two days and incentives and allowances by November 10, airline sources said on Thursday.

Talks were held with banks and financial institutions for working capital loans to arrange the amount for payment of salaries, productivity-linked incentives (PLIs) and flying allowances to the employees including pilots, they said.

Sources also said, the management of the cash-strapped airline was making all efforts to pay the dues of the employees very soon, including the salaries by October 31 and PLI and other allowances by November 10.

Talks with the banks were initiated after negotiations between executive pilots and their other colleagues in Mumbai over the past few days.

As the negotiations failed to yield any result, the executive pilots, as well as the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) threatened “industrial action” if the issue was not resolved soon.