National carrier Air India said its losses more than doubled to Rs 5,548.26 crore for financial year 2008-09 as compared with a loss of Rs 2,400 crore in 2007-09, on declining load factors and falling yields. The figures should come as a wake-up call to the government as well as the airline’s management and staff that urgent measures would be required to salvage the carrier and plug any further losses.

The limping state-owned carrier’s total revenue fell to Rs 13,479 crore in 2008-09 from Rs 15,252 crore during the previous fiscal. The Air India board, which met in Chennai today, approved the annual accounts for the last fiscal, holding global financial meltdown, low passenger load factors and falling yields responsible for the financial losses.

In the backdrop of a strike threat by pilots from November 24 protesting any cut in their salaries, a Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, would be meeting on Wednesday to discuss the financial restructuring and deliberate on the bailout to the beleaguered carrier by way of equity infusion and soft loan. At the same time, the government has made it clear that it would not give a blank cheque to AI and would release funds only when come concrete measures to reduce financial costs are implemented.

The passenger load factor declined from 63.8 per cent in 2007-08 to 59.5 per cent in 2008-09 and the number of passengers travelling on Air India flights declined from 13.21 million in 2007-08 to 10.36 million in 2008-09, said an Air India spokesperson.

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