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New Delhi/Mumbai, June 20 The Air India Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Arvind Jadhav, has asked the airline’s 31,500 employees to rise to the challenge that the current financial crisis poses.

“We should consider ourselves fortunate that we have been insulated from the adverse impact of the economic meltdown so far,” he said in a letter issued on Saturday.

Admitting that the airline has approached the Government, as the owner of the airline, for infusion of funds by way of equity and soft loans, Mr Jadhav hoped the Government would “extend a helping hand soon”.

However, he also cautioned that financial help from the Government could come with strings attached. “We also need to be conscious of the impact that disinvestment/privatisation can have on our lives, should this materialise,” the letter added.

Pointing out that Air India has not resorted to retrenchment or lay-offs till date, though several global airlines including Jet Airways, Air France-KLM, Delta and American Airlines had done so, the CMD said that the airline would not be in a position to keep seeking loans from financial institutions to meet working capital as the interest rates on these were very high.

Mr Jadhav instead asked the employees to rise to the challenge and demonstrate that “we not only have more experience” in “running an airline” as compared to others, but also have the ability to overcome the crisis.

The Air India’s Human Resource Department has initiated a dialogue with the unions to apprise them of the difficult financial situation confronting the airline industry, in general, and Air India, in particular. While a meeting with some unions was held on Friday, another discussion with unions was held in Delhi on Saturday.

The letter was issued on the day Mr Jadhav and other senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation met the Cabinet Secretary, Mr K. M. Chandrasekhar

The team will also call on the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr T. K. Nair, here on Monday. The meeting assumes importance as the airline is in a precarious financial position. While its working capital has been enhanced from Rs 6,000 crore in December 2007 to Rs 16,000 crore now, the losses have been mounting.

The airline management has already initiated steps to curtail the mounting losses which are estimated at Rs 14-15 crore daily. Sources said that Mr Jadhav, who took over as Chairman on May 4, has not taken a salary for May. On Friday, the airline asked more than 150 of its senior executives to forego their salary and incentives for July.

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