Air India needs to be privatised; cooperation of employees important: Puri tells union

MUMBAI: The government has no option but to privatise Air India as it has around Rs 80,000-crore debt and needs the cooperation of the employees for carrying out the privatisation process, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri is said to have told the airline unions on Thursday.

At a meeting with some 13 Air India unions in Delhi, Puri also said that the government was trying to address the concerns of the employees regarding issues such as job protection post-privatisation, a union representative said.

The unions, however, opposed to the legacy carrier going into private hands and stressed that the airline employees are capable enough to run it provided they get the government support, the representative said.