Air India Denies Salary Payout Delay
Joe Cortez August 07, 2017
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Officials and union says paychecks were behind, while carrier reports “nothing is abnormal.”
Trouble continues inside Air India after officials at the airline and at the pilots union say that July paychecks were delayed without notice. The Press Trust of India (PTI) reports the carrier ultimately made good on the payments, but denied they were late to begin with.
According to officials at the Indian flag carrier, the delayed payments were the direct result of cash flow issues. Despite the troubles, those speaking to PTI continued to claim that everything was normal and the late payments were only a result of money coming late into the carrier.
“Everyone is aware that Air India has a cash deficit and we were expecting some funds which did not come (on time),” an anonymous official inside the carrier told PTI. “So we had this issue. Otherwise, there is no salary issue.”
Initially, a spokesperson for the airline said there was no delay in payment and that “nothing is abnormal” with the carrier. When members of the pilots’ union came forward with claims payments were delayed for everyone, Air India issued a second statement promising that payments would be issued by August 5, citing a law that gives them until the seventh day of the month to pay employees.
The delayed payments come just over a month after the Indian government announced that they would begin privatizing Air India in hopes of making it profitable once again. The airline currently carries approximately $7.9 billion in debt, while the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry has called the operations “not sustainable.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
