Air India to partly clear salary backlogs on Thursday

Air India will pay its employees their salaries and allowances to the tune of Rs230 crore, overdue for the past few months, by the end of this month.

While the financially troubled national carrier would pay July salaries to all its employees by 27 September, it will pay August salaries by this date only to non-licensed category staff, which excludes pilots, engineers and cabin crew, a civil aviation ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Air India would however pay the performance-linked incentives (PLI) for the month of May to its licensed category staff, which includes pilots, engineers and cabin crew, the statement said, adding this entire exercise would entail an expenditure of Rs230 crore.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh is keeping a close watch on the airline's position and has asked Air India to make up-to-date payment of all dues to its employees as soon as possible.