NEW DELHI: India's civil aviation sector is in an economic nose dive. With the Kingfisher airlines, one of the biggest private carrier facing bankruptcy, India's civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told the Parliament Thursday that the country's official international carrier, Air India, is bleeding to the tune of $1.9 million per day on operational costs alone. Worse still, workers unions at Air India have threatened to go on strike from April 2, if their backlog of wages are not paid. “The total loss of Air India every day on its operation is approximately Rs 10 crore ($ 1.9 million),” Singh told Parliament on Thrusday. Meanwhile a consortium of unions representing a large chunk of the 33,000 strong workforce of Air India has threatened a strike from April 2, if the government did not pay them their salaries which are now five months due. The unions have now put prime minister Manmohan Singh on notice by writing him a representation explaining their grievances and the combative course of action. “We will no longer be able to bear this agony which has been thrust upon us for no fault of ours. Therefore, we reiterate that if the management continues to withhold our legitimate wages, we will not be able to discharge our duties from April 2. We appeal to you for your kind and urgent intervention to resolve the situation,” the representation to Singh reads. Earlier this week Kingfisher airlines, facing allegations of mismanagement and a severe cash crunch was forced to cancel its operations from several tier two towns in India and has allegedly issued instructions to its staffers to wait it out at home, until the aviation company's fiscal health improves. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/iTzIz Tags: Air India, Costs, Economy, India, Travel Section: Business, Latest News, South Asia, Travel
