The recession-hit state run carrier, Air India, would soon get capital infusion and soft loans from the Union government, as assured by the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Praful Patel, in a reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. He said that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has directed the Ministry to do everything possible to help the ailing carrier that suffered an accumulated loss of Rs. 7,200 crore till March 31, 2009.

Mr. Patel admitted that the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines did not produce the desired results and said: "Before merger, the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines had incurred a loss of Rs 541.30 crore and Rs 230.97 crore respectively during 2006-07. In 2007-08, the combined airline posted a loss of Rs 2,226 crore."

Taking a dig at the opposition, who proposed disinvestment in the carrier, the Minister said that there would be no disinvestment in the Air India, and that it will remain a public sector company.

Defending the move to add more aircrafts in AI's fleet, despite the critical condition of aviation industry, Mr. Patel said that decision to acquire more aircrafts was taken at a time when the industry was booming and there was no slowdown across the aviation sector.