Would Air India need government bail out package to pay salaries?

For the first time since the losses hit the national carrier Air India, the payment of salaries for the current month of about 30,000 employees will be delayed by a fortnight.

Confirming this, an Air India spokesperson said, "The salaries of June will be paid on July 15 due to the resource crunch that the company is facing."

The payment of productivity-linked incentive (PLI) has also been delayed by 15 days, according to a circular issued by Air India management.

Air India's losses for the last financial year are estimated at around Rs 4,000 crore, up from Rs 2,226 crore in the previous fiscal.

Reports say the national carrier was planning to seek Rs 5,000 crore as additional equity, Rs 7,000 crore as a soft loan payable after five years at a five per cent interest rate, and a grant of Rs 2,000 crore.

However, top Air India officials have denied the figures, but said they are working on similar lines.

Maintaining that the financial crisis was foreseen last year, industry sources said the acute situation could have been avoided had Air India delayed the ongoing deliveries of aircraft, like its competitors Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines did.

They said there is no capacity since air traffic had gone down substantially due to the financial meltdown, and so the induction of additional aircraft could have waited.

Air India has placed orders for 111 new planes worth over Rs 45,000 crore and it currently has a paid-up capital of Rs 145 crore and authorized capital of Rs 1,500 crore package would not match Air India's expectations.

Agencies

Airlines raise fares by at least Rs 2,000

Airlines including low-cost carriers have withdrawn all promotional fares and increased basic fares by around Rs.2,000 on several sectors from Tuesday.

The decision was taken as operators were faced with low load factors, though basic promotional fares had been as low as Rs.99 on many routes, industry sources said.

"We have discontinued our promotional fares as the response has not been very good, but people who have already bought tickets under the scheme will enjoy the benefit," said an Air India spokesperson here.

The spokesperson of private carrier Kingfisher Airlines said: "We have closed low fare buckets and are concentrating on setting higher fare buckets. Our focus is on revenue and not seat factors."

Agencies

Air India announces fare cut up to 82pc

A day after Jet Airways reduced fares on domestic routes, state-owned operator Air India on Tuesday announced fare cut up to 82 percent in at least 20 sectors, mostly on metro routes, a senior airline official said.

"The new fare cut comes into effect today (Tuesday). We have cut fares on 20 sectors by up to 82 per cent. This will largely benefit passengers on metro routes," an airline spokesperson told reporters.

India's leading private air carrier Jet Airways Monday reduced fares on its domestic routes by up to 40 percent with immediate effect.

Another leading carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, Sunday announced fare cut from Jan 1. However, it has not announced the quantum of fare cut.

Low cost carriers are also expected to follow suit, said an industry official. The fare cuts comes in the wake of slackening demand in the post-peak season and continued decline in fuel prices.

Over the past four months, there has been a sharp decline in aviation fuel prices. While some air carriers earlier this month reduced the fuel surcharge on the ticket price by Rs 200 to Rs 400, they did not touch the base fare.

Oil companies have reduced aviation fuel prices seven times since September. The fuel is now sold at Rs 32,691.28 per kilolitre in Delhi after prices were slashed by Rs 4,208.37 in the first week of December.

Source: Airlines

Jet Airways, Kingfisher to cut air fares in January

Private air carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher announced reduction in fares following steep fall in Aviation Turbine Fuel prices.

While Jet Airways said it was reducing air fare ranging 15-40 per cent from tomorrow, Kingfisher Airlines said it would effect fare cut across its network from January 1.

"Jet Airways is reducing basic fares ranging from 15-40 per cent across most of the domestic flights with effect from tomorrow," a Jet Airways spokesperson said.

The fare cut would be across all domestic sectors, the spokesperson said tonight.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had repeatedly asked the airlines to pass on the benefit of sharp drop in ATF prices to passengers. Earlier in the day, Kingfisher Airlines said it would effect a fare cut across its network from January 1.

"Kingfisher Airlines will begin the New Year on an aggressive note by slashing fares on its network," Kingfisher Airlines Chairman, Vijaya Mallya, said in a statement here. He, however, did not specify the quantum by which fares would come down.

The current low prices of ATF allows Kingfisher to pursue an opportunity to significantly increase market share by offering the fine five-star flying experience at reduced fares, he said.

Earlier, Kingfisher had said that it would effect fare cut only after the government classifies ATF in the Declared Goods category. The airlines across the board are demanding the Government to classify ATF in the Declared Goods category.

Under the declared goods category, there will be a uniform 4 per cent sales tax on air fuel across the country. The proposal is now before the Parliament.

However, several state governments are likely to oppose the uniform taxation as it would cause revenue loss to them. Now, the sales tax varies from four per cent to 32 per cent, and accounts for over 35 per cent of airlines' operational cost.

Over the last four months, there has been a sharp decline in ATF prices. While some air carriers earlier this month reduced the fuel surcharge between Rs 200 and Rs 400, they did not touch the basic fare.