OEMs asked to supply Air India fuel for three months
14 Jun 2011
Mumbai: Embattled flag carrier Air India was provided a significant bail-out by the Government of India on Monday with oil marketing companies (OEMs) being asked to meet all fuel requirements of the carrier over the next three months. The order will now allow the airline to operate flights without any compulsion to either curtail or cancel schedules.
A recent clampdown by OEMs, which put the carrier on a cash-and-carry basis for defaulting on payments, forced the carrier to alter its schedules in a bid to limit the number of services it operated.
The decision to extend a lifeline to the cash-starved carrier was taken at a high-level meeting between civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi, petroleum minister S Jaipal Reddy, Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav and other officials.
It was also decided that the carrier would continue to pay the oil companies Rs16 crore a day in line with an earlier decision.