Air India agrees to pay salaries to some employees on July 3

The standoff between Air India and its employee unions over delayed salaries is now over. The airlines would pay salaries of nearly 24,000 of its 32,000 employees on July 3. Air India had earlier said that the salaries of employees would be paid on July 15.

Thousands Air India employees, had staged a sit-in on Friday at their respective stations across the nation to protest against the airline management's decision to defer payment of their salaries by a fortnight. Hundreds of AI employees, associated with the three unions—ACEU, Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG) and Indian Aircraft Technician's Association (IATA)—protested near the office of the airline's Executive Director's (Northern Region) at the IGI airport in New Delhi.

About 24,000 AI employees, associated with the three unions, had earlier decided to wear black badges from June 22 to 25 as mark of protest. They had said if the management fails to issue their salaries on June 30, they would boycott their duties under the "no pay no work" policy, which is likely to affect the operations of the national carrier.

On Thursday, during their meeting with Air India Chairman-cum-Managing Director Arvind Jadhav, the unions had refused any renegotiation of wage agreement with the management after it proposed a wage cut to employees to tide over the financial crunch faced by the airlines.

The unions also demanded a re-look by the management into the company's new aircraft acquisition policy as it has substantially contributed to the air carrier's present financial difficulties.