Air India hits out at media over “splurging” claims
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Air India has hit back at media claims that it spent a large amount of money on activities to celebrate ‘Air India Day’.
The national carrier issued a statement calling a news report that accused it of overspending “totally baseless, mischievous and devoid of truth”.
It also reiterated that Air India is “fully aware of its responsibilities towards the judicious use of taxpayer’s money”.
The report, carried by Times Now, accused the airline of “splurging crores of rupees” (a ‘crore’ is the Indian term for 10 million) on functions associated with Air India Day – a new initiative that the airline says was designed to celebrate its “brave staff”, including those involved in evacuating Indian nationals from Libya and Iraq, and pilots involved in emergency landings.
“All this was intended to instil a sense of pride and confidence in our workforce who are slowly coming out of low morale over the period of difficult days in the company,” Air India said. “It was perfectly timed to celebrate our entry into Star Alliance ushering an era of improved product of AI on a global platform.”
The Air India Day celebrations proved popular with customers however; the airline’s website crashed as passengers tried to take advantage of an offer for tickets priced at just INR100 (US$1.60).
Air India said it had spent “just around INR10 lacs” (INR1 million, or US$16,500) on the celebrations.
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