Regulation of journeys by private airlines while availing Leave Travel Concession

NO.31011/2/2006-Esst.(A)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
***************

Dated the 11th March, 2010

Subject:- Regulation of journeys by private airlines while availing Leave Travel Concession

The undersigned is directed to refer to Department of Expenditure O.M.No 19024/1/2009-E.IV dated 13/7/2009 and this Department’s O.M. No. 31011/2/2006-Esst-(A) dated 27.7.2009 regarding journey by air while availing Leave Travel Concession (LTC), stipulating that in all cases of air travel (including LTC) both domestic and international where the Government of India bears the cost of air passage, the official concerned may travel by Air India only.

2. It is clarified that restriction of travel by Air India only need not apply to non-entitled officers who travel by air and claim LTC reimbursement by entitled class of rail.

3. The above orders will be applicable with effect from the date of issue of this Office Memorandum. Past cases already settled will not be re-opened.

4. This issues in consultation with Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure) vide their I.D. No. 19024/1/2009-E.IV dated 9.3.2010.

(P.Prabhakaran)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India

View the O.M. Dated 11.03.2010.

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Air India to impose a 15-17 per cent cut on the total salary package

After stiff resistance from its employees against a steep pay cut, National Aviation Company of India Ltd), which runs Air India, has come out with a fresh proposal to impose a 15-17 per cent cut on the total salary package.The total package includes basic salary, dearness allowance, house rent allowance and payments made under the productivity-linked incentive scheme . The cut, however, would not be applicable on employees (about 4,000, according to unions) who have a gross salary of less than Rs 20,000 a month.

The new proposal, which has to be cleared by the Cabinet, comes a few months after the airline had made an attempt, since aborted, to push through a plan for a 50 per cent reduction in PLI across the board for its 32,000 employees. That plan was targeted to save Rs 600 crore. But, it wasn’t pushed through because of stiff opposition from the employees.

PLI constitutes 40 per cent of the company’s total annual wage bill of around Rs 3,000 crore. The cut proposed by the new offer is much lower; the earlier one would have cut the salary package by 20 per cent.

The cut in salary would be the key in ensuring the airline is able to raise Rs 1,870 crore from internal resources, a nine-fold increase of what it has been able to rustle up in 2009-10 (only Rs 202.4 crore). Even in 2008-9, the airline had generated only Rs 429 crore from internal resources.

The blueprint for recovery included introducing advertising through the entertainment system on the aircraft, securitisation of its prime real estate, which includes the iconic Air India Building in Mumbai’s upmarket Nariman Point, to raise loans and further rationalisation of routes.

Confirming the new plan, a senior ministry official said: "We have to raise funds through internal resources. The key to that would be a new plan for cut on the overall pay package of employees by 15-17 per cent, rather than go in for a steep cut in PLI, which has been opposed by employees. Through these measures, we hope to save between Rs 700 crore and Rs 800 crore."

The airline will get equity infusion of Rs 1,200 crore for 2010-11 as earmarked in the budget, apart from Rs 800 crore received from the government in the financial year 2009-10. The equity infusion of Rs 2,000 crore was part of the government’s decision to bale out the airline from its financial crises and help it reduce its huge losses, as high as Rs 7,000 crore in 2008-09 and expected to increase by another Rs 4,000 crore in 2010-11.

The airline has not been able to meet its targets for 2009-10, when it was expected to save over Rs 2,000 crore from various measures. It has, according to the ministry, being able to save only Rs 800 crore.

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Air India has suggested an up to 50 per cent cut to employees

The management of cash-strapped Air India has suggested an up to 50 per cent cut from next month in productivity-linked incentive given to employees.

"Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav has suggested a 30-50 per cent cut in employees PLI from next month," Bharatkumar Raut, President of Shiv Sena-backed All India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA) told reporters here after a meeting with the NACIL management.

NACIL is the holding company of both Air India and the erstwhile Indian Airlines.

Many employee unions with allegiance to Shiv Sena are, however, opposing the proposal. They include AICCA, Executive Cabin Crew Association, Air India Employees Union, Engineers Association and Bharatiya Kamgar Sena of Indian Airlines. The unions would meet on August 25 to deliberate on the issue.

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20,000 Air India employees decided to go on a nationwide mass walkout

Unions led by the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), representing over 20,000 Air India employees, have decided to go on a nationwide mass walkout of its members tomorrow between 1pm and 3 pm across the country to protest against the management backing out of its commitment to pay salaries to lower grade employees (about 13,000 of them) on July 3.

even as the ACEU claimed there would be disruption of flights during that time, the A-I management made it clear they had not backed out on their commitments and had told unions they would pay the salaries by July 3 or 4.

"The advice to the banks will go today and, after that, it might take one or two days. So there is no question of any ’going back’," Executive Director Jitendra Bhargava said. He added that there would be no impact on flights either.

However, ACEU President Dinkar Shetty had a different version. "The ECS (electronic clearance system -which is used for bank payments) process has not even begun. Once it does, it takes at least three days for the pay to reach an employee’s account. The management, under Chairman Arvind Jadhav, cannot be trusted."

Shetty also said their union will not go in for a meeting with the Turnaround Committee set up between unions and the management slated to be held tomorrow.

The Air India management had earlier conveyed that it would pay its employees salaries for June on July 15th - a delay of 15 days. However, with the unions threatening to go on a no-pay, no-work agitation of they did not get their pay on June 30, the management decided to pay about 13,000 employees’ salaries by July 3. Unions are now saying the management is not keeping its promise and, therefore, they have to go in for an agitation.

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Air India’s employees will get their June salaries by July 3

Seventy per cent of Air India’s 31,000 employees will get their June salaries by July 3 after the threat of a strike forced the airline to drop a planned a 15-day delay in payment. Today’s decision covered lower-level staff.

Officials said a meeting would be held after July 3 to decide when to pay the other employees.

The carrier is struggling with a loss of Rs 4,300 crore in 2008-09.

“The management has told us that we would get our salaries on July 3,” said J.B. Kadian, the general secretary of the Air Corp Employees’ Union, which had threatened a strike if there was a delay in payment of salaries.

The announcement followed talks between the unions and Air India chief Arvind Jadhav.

A move to cut salaries and allowances has been dropped, along with a proposal asking top managers to forego a month’s pay.

Source : The Telegraph.

 

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