Air India Seeks Loan To Meet Expenses, May Salaries To Be Paid Soon. 5 Developments

National carrier Air India's employees might have to wait till next week to get their May salaries. An internal notice dated June 6 sent to employees said salaries for May were delayed and the payment is likely to be made on June 15. The carrier has also applied for a loan of 10 billion rupees to meet its expenses, an Air India spokesperson said as reported by Reuters. The airline has invited bids from financial institutions by June 13 for a short-term loan, according to an announcement on its website.

Here are 5 latest developments:

1.    Air India has invited bids from financial institutions and banks for a Rs 1,000-crore government guarantee-backed Short Term Loan (STL).The airline has called for financial bids by June 13 and said that the amount of Rs 1,000 crore will be drawn in June 2018 in one or more trenches.

2.    Meanwhile, more than half the members of Air India's pilot union threatened industrial action because of delays in getting their salaries. 

3.    Members of a regional committee of the Indian Commercial Pilots Associations' (ICPA) have sent a letter to the union's central committee, saying they had decided not to cooperate with the state-run carrier's management until salaries are paid.

4.    "In the REC (Regional Executive Committee) meeting held in Delhi on 6th June 2018, Delhi REC unanimously decided that no wages on time amount to financial stress and mental agony, thereby resulting in undue fatigue which is severely affecting flight safety," the letter said.

5.    The threat by the pilots is the latest setback for the debt-laden carrier that is struggling to meet operational expenses after the government failed to attract even initial bidders last week to buy a 76 per cent stake in the airline.