Air India employees suggest ways to fight debt
These range from shrinking the size of in-flight magazine to eliminating salad from menu
From shrinking the in-flight magazine’s size to giving up allowances, Air India employees are coming out with innovative suggestions to help the airline fight debt burden. This comes as the government is contemplating its privatisation.
A cabin crew in-charge of Air India Express in a letter to Ashwani Lohani, chairman and managing director (CMD), said he is willing to work two months without pay — including flying allowance, layover allowance and special allowance while travelling abroad. He said he had seen the management’s intent of cutting down cost to boost revenues across all spectrums.
“I know this will not make enough difference as an individual effort but if this can encourage a small portion of the mammoth employee size that we have, it will make a dent on the ~50,000 crore debt wall that holds us in this situation,” the employee wrote.
The airline which has a debt of around ~46,000 crore has an outgo of more than ~4,000 crore per year as debt servicing.
The mails which are pouring in have suggestions such as waiving off allowances of employees’ transportation claims till the time the company is back in health.
“For 14 years, the company has given me respect and an identity in the society. Air India has been my family, my society where I feel the sense of belonging to give back to the company which has given me years of glory and memory to cherish,” another employee wrote, saying he is willing to forgo his travelling allowance of more than ~4,00,000 pending over the past three years.