Air India Chairperson Ashwani Lohani on Wednesday assured the national carrier’s employees that a corporate setup would mean “a better deal” for everyone. In a letter to the airline’s staff members, Lohani said they have no reason to be sceptical about the imminent privatisation. The Centre has decided to privatise the airline, which is grappling with heavy debts and stiff competition from its rivals.

The letter was sent on a day the airline’s employee union, Air Corporation Employees’ Union, staged a protest against the move towards disinvestment and demanded a reconsideration, Mint reported. “ACEU appeals to the government of India to not go ahead with the privatization and disinvestment of Air India,” the Union’s general secretary, JB Kadian, said.

“Ownership changes that we expect at Air India would also lead to a change in the working environment and the work culture,” Mint quoted Lohani’s letter. “The complexities of working in a public sector unit environment would get replaced by a corporate culture, a culture in which merit would get a better deal.”

The chairperson said disinvestment was a step towards dealing with its debt and that the decision aimed at making the airliner stronger and on par with other international air carriers.

The letter came on a day Air India’s employees union staged a protest against the disinvestment of the national carrier at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

“ACEU appeals to the government of India to not go for the privatisation and disinvestment of Air India,” Kadian said in a statement on Tuesday, adding, “We are always ready to turn around Air India.”

The airline has a total debt of more than Rs 52,000 crore, an annual interest of Rs 4,500 crore and has been surviving on a Rs 30,000-crore bailout package issued by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2012. It has received Rs 24,000 crore so far.