Hyderabad, Oct. 16 :Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said that there will be no retrenchment in Air India.

"I have no information about this. I will be able to say something only after speaking to Air India Chairman. There is not going to be any retrenchment of staff in Air India. I have full sympathy towards Jet Airways workers. But this matter is also being looked into by other departments like the labour department. I will also try to do something about it. But what I said yesterday was because the labour ministry was also looking into it,"said Patel.

Patel said this in Hyderabad while sympathizing with the sacked Jet Airways employees. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference organized as part of India''s first civil aviation show `India Aviation 2008''.

The statement came minutes after his Ministry spokesman said in New Delhi that Air India would offer three to four years'' leave without pay to about 15,000 employees.

Air India''s total staff strength is around 23,000.

On Wednesday, Jet Airways announced that it would retrench around 1,900 employees to cut operational costs.

Patel maintained that the decision by individual airlines was being taken as they were facing a major financial crisis, primarily due to high fuel prices.

He added that India would be spending billions of dollars over the next few years not only to build airports through the public-private partnership route, but also on air traffic control, aviation security and aviation infrastructure.

According to International Air Transport Association data, almost 30 carriers worldwide have folded up in the last six months and an estimated 170,000 jobs lost. (ANI)