Govt ready to help Air India if...

The government's support is there for Air India, (but) it comes with a condition, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said. 

"Air India must shape up, it should become leaner and trimmer. We expect a full restructuring plan from Air India, which has a lot of flab," Patel said.

"There is a need to fix responsibility in Air India and that is why there was a change of guard at the top," he added.

Meanwhile, demanding a thorough probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Shiv Sena-backed trade unions in the National Aviation Company on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in Air India affairs.

"We demand immediate intervention by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Air India issue. The government t should also appoint a Committee, either a JPC or a Parliamentary Committee to look into the problems that the national air-carrier faces today and fix responsibility on those who have brought it to such a pass and suggest corrective measures," Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP and Air India union leader, Bharat Kumar Raut, told PTI.

The unions which have sought the Prime Minister's intervention are All India Cabin Crew Association, Air India Employees Union, Air India Service Engineers Association, All India Executive Cabin Crew Association and Bharatiya Kamgar Sena-Indian Airlines.

The five unions have formed a joint front called the Federation of NACIL Employees (FONE).

The government and management's volte face on the issue of wage-cuts is shocking, Raut said, adding, the move was also contrary to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's statement last year on the issue.