In what would come as a surprise to passengers, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told Lok Sabha today that Air India's performance standards have improved and promotions to its employees, which had been stopped recently, will be started from next month.

He said during Question Hour, that though Air India was still suffering losses, its performance has improved and it has returned some of the loans taken from banks. "An oversight committee looks at performance standards of Air India every six months. So far, Air India has improved its performance standards," he said.

The minister stated that most recommendations of Justice Dharmadhikari Committee on integration of erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines employees have been implemented.