A group of 209 Air India employees have submitted an expression of interest for the national airline in partnership with a private financier. The bidding process is led by Meenakshi Mallik, who is the current Commercial Director of Air India.
“We have submitted an EoI together with a partner who will provide us with financial support,” Malik confirmed to Business Standard, declining to disclose further details, as they are confidential.
While Air India’s bidding conditions allow for an offer by employees, divestment guidelines require that the company may not partner with any private company. You have to partner with a bank or financial institution.
In addition to the endorsement of the financier, each employee who wishes to participate in the offer will be asked to contribute 1 lakh of rupees to the offer.
The employee consortium plans to have a 51 percent stake in the airline, while the remaining 49 percent is assumed to be in the hands of financial partners.
“Due to the support that we will receive from our financial partner, I anticipate that each of us will have to make a contribution of no more than 1,00,000 rupees, to bid for the company, this is a detail that I will be better positioned to convey to everyone a once we have passed the initial stage of EI. Also, after successfully completing stage one, we are planning our offering in such a way that no employee has to take financial risk or contribute more than Rs 100,000, “Malik had previously written in a communication to employees urging them to bid.
However, a large portion of Air India employees, including pilots and cabin crew unions such as IPG and ICPA, have advised their members not to participate in the airline’s divestment process, saying that management has not yet addressed their concerns about “disproportionate” pay cuts. , which have been in force since April of this year.
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