(Image source from: Air India's free tickets to employees raise debt burden})

At a time when India's national carrier Air India has borne a loss of  Rs 3,900 crore in 2013-14, its staff are being given free tickets that is economically unfeasible. Air India, which has a debt burden of Rs 35,000 crore, has introduced a scheme for its 24,000 employees called Passage Entitlement-Vacation Travel.   

Under the scheme, Air India's top officials at the rank of joint managing directors and functional directors would be entitled to 24 free air tickets annually. Those at the rank of deputy general managers and above will be entitled to 20 passages.

Officials holding the post of assistant general managers and senior AGMs, with less than 20 years of service, will get 12 such tickets and personnels with more than 20 years of service can avail upto 16 tickets. The rest of the staff, who have been in service for a period of one to 20 years, will get eight free tickets and those with more than 20 years in service can avail 12 passages.  

And "in exceptional circumstances", the scheme allows an employee to use upto four passages for sisters, brothers, daughter-in-law and son-in-law. Besides, retired employees of Air India have also been extended this facility, which would be at par with their entitlement at the time of superannuation.

Air India officials, while talking about the new scheme, stated that it was meant to put a check on the number of free passage, which was unlimited, given earlier to employees. Air India employees have been provided with this scheme, as a substitute of the leave travel concession scheme (not available to Air India employees) availed by government employees.

(Picture Source: upload.wikimedia.org)

(AW: Pratima Tigga)