'Air India under heavy debt, to resolve the problem soon'

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Saturday said that the financial condition of Air India is very bad and the airline is under heavy debt.

According to reports, 18 pilots have called in sick and 20 flights have been cancelled from Delhi till Saturday noon. "Some Air India pilot reported sick. AI financial condition is very bad. They are under heavy debt. The government is aware of it. Next Tuesday, I am meeting finance minister. The situation cannot be solved over a day. we are looking for bail out also. The situation will take lot of work to resolve," he said. "I understand the problem of the employees. We are working to resolve the problem," he added. Earlier, flight operations of Air India were severely affected on Saturday after its 10 pilots reported sick as part of their 'work to rule' agitation against the airline management's failure to pay their salary. Eight flights to Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Leh, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Amritsar and Kolkata were cancelled after 10 pilots reported sick on Saturday morning. "We have clubbed the early morning flight to the above destinations with the flights operating later in the day," an Air India official said. Protesting non-payment of their salary and allowances, a section of Air India pilots had on Friday decided to go on 'no-pay-no-work' agitation from Friday midnight. The pilots held a meeting in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and decided to go on the agitation.