Air India is in profit, says Jayant Sinha

Air India and other domestic airlines are “running in profit”, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said today, even as the government mulls possible privatisation of the debt-laden national carrier.

He said the government would have to bring a “transformation” in Air India to make it a “good” airline. The government’s think-tank NITI Aayog has proposed total disinvestment of the national carrier, which is sitting on a debt pile of Rs 52,000 crore. However, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has favoured disinvestment of the loss-making carrier. Addressing a press conference here today, Sinha, who is the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said the government is currently deliberating on the issue of ownership of Air India and Cabinet will take a decision in this regard.

“The current numbers suggest that our airlines are running in profit. They are not running in losses. Even Air India too is in profit,” he said. Air India, which is surviving on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package spread over 10 years announced by the Manmohan Singh government in 2012, is working on ways to improve its financial position. In 2015-16, the airline posted operational profit of Rs 105 crore on account of low fuel prices and increased passenger …read more