AI pilots to bid for controlling shares

AI pilots to bid for controlling shares
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JULY 21: In a major development, pilots of Air India today decided to bid for controlling shares in the airline, saying selling stakes to private bidders or foreign interests would be a "costly" affair and possibly a "fatal error".

"The government should consider them (the pilots) as worthy contenders, since they are stakeholders in the airline and its well-being is their primary concern," Capt SP Varma, president of Indian Pilots' Guild, said in a statement.

The government has decided to give ten per cent stakes to the employees of Air India, besides selling 26 per cent to a foreign strategic partner and 14 per cent to an Indian private party. While retaining 40 per cent, the government has decided to give the remaining 10 per cent to financial institutions.

After a meeting which took stock of the situation arising out of government's decision to privatise Air India, the guild decided to "spearhead the take-over bid to buy out the controlling interest in the company, thereby retaining control of the flag-carrier in Indian hands."

"It was strongly felt that letting a private bidder or some other unknown entity with foreign vested interest to get a controlling stake in the company might prove to be a costly and possibly fatal error," Varma said.

The guild chief said the pilots were "confident that Air India can not only be turned around, but also be restored to its pride of place in the skies." "Air India is a national heritage and a matter of pride for any Indian and must be controlled by people who have a long-lasting stake and interest in the airline," Varma said.

He also referred to the pilots' union of the largest world airline, United Airline, buying over controlling interests in 1994. Not only had the United Airline Pilots' Union bought over the controlling interest but had "turned the airline around and also made it into the largest and most profitable airline in business today," he said.

He said the meeting in Mumbai took stock of the privatisation decision by giving "a significant and controlling stake to a private bidder who would most certainly be a direct competitor looking for a bigger slice of the Indian sky."