State-owned Air India delayed payment of March's salary to its employee by a month as it had to meet year-end expenses for various purposes, Parliament was informed today.

"The salary for the month of March, 2010, was paid to the employees of Air India on April 7, 2010," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The above postponement was necessitated due to committed March year-end payments to oil companies, Airports Authority of India, foreign and Indian vendors, and because of repayment of loans, Patel said.

He said the government is continuously monitoring the financial position and restructuring plan of Air India.

Replying to another question, the minister said Air India has decided to close its offices at Lahore and Karachi in Pakistan due to the lack of operations from these cities.

Grant more autonomy to AI: Par panel to Govt

(PTI) The government was today asked by a Parliamentary panel to grant more autonomy to Air India and "not impose its decisions" on the ailing national carrier.

The panel also asked the state-owned air carrier to "put its act together as early as possible for reclaiming its 'Maharaja' status".

The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture wanted all merger related issues to be settled in accordance with its earlier recommendations that included creation of separate airlines for domestic and international services under one holding company.

In its latest report tabled in Parliament today, the Committee hoped that the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) would come out of the merger related issues in the coming years and produce the required results to establish itself as a leader in the civil aviation market.

The same panel, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, in its earlier report in January strongly opposed the decision to merge the two national carriers (Air India and Indian Airlines) and recommended that AI's domestic and international wings be separated but they should remain under a single holding firm, NACIL.

An identical recommendation was later made by the Committee on Public Undertakings headed by Congress member V Kishore Chandra Deo.

The Yechury panel, in the latest report reviewing the Demands for Grants of the Civil Aviation Ministry, warned NACIL to be "careful to ensure that merger related issues (do) not make any negative impact on its growth".

It pointed out that Air India Express had "not come up to expected levels" in the low-cost carrier market and felt that it should take "giant steps" to gain more market share.

It said that the airline "still needs some aggressive marketing and promotional strategies to strengthen its presence in domestic and international markets.

The Committee hopes that with the induction of new aircraft, NACIL should be in a position to expand its air services to the length and breadth of the country".

It asked the NACIL to revisit the underutilised bilaterals signed in the past and "try to add more services with new aircraft".