Air India is not shutting down, says CMD Ashwani Lohani

Air India CMD Aswani Lohani said Wednesday that rumours that national carrier is going to shut down are totally false. "Air India employees need not worry. Nothing wrong will happen to them... Rumours that Air India is going to shut down are totally false. Air India will continue its operations," Lohani said. "Air India is still a great airline. It is always there when the country needs Air India. Recently, we brought back Indians from Wuhan. There are a lot of other evacuation stories," he said. Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the entire dues and arrears of Air India employees will be paid before the proposed disinvestment of the airline is concluded, as the govt set the ball rolling for the privatisation of the carrier. Earlier Wednesday, the government invited preliminary bids to divest its entire stake in Air India, and the airline's subsidiary Air India Express along with its joint venture Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited.<br/>