Recession: AI seeks bailout package from govt

New Delhi, Jun 24: The effects of recession seems to have finally hit Air India. After delay in salaries, and requests to the senior staff to forgo the July salary; it has approached the government to help the airline stay afloat by providing a bailout package of Rs. 10,000 to 15,000 crore.

Air India officials will be meeting government officials to discuss about the bailout ahead of the Union Budget which will be presented on Jul 6.

The airline which was relatively unaffected by the economic crisis admitted to facing a resource crunch a few weeks back. This was made evident when it delayed the payment of salaries and incentives for the month of June. Before this the airlines had not resorted to any sort of measures to cut costs or indulged in lay offs.

According to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the industry will be losing around 2 billion dollars this year.