New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS): A day after receiving approval from the government on fresh equity worth Rs.1,200 crore, the Air India management Friday said salaries due to the staff would be cleared by Monday.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved Rs.1,200 crore fresh equity and Rs.532 crore towards service rendered towards charter operations for official travel and evacuation.

"The pending dues to all the staff would be given by Monday," a senior Air India official told IANS.

According to the official, the management prioritised the disbursement of salaries as soon as the company received the fresh equity.

"Our number one priority right now is to disburse the salaries as soon as we receive the funds from the government," the official said.

Air India's 40,000 employees have not received their salary for June and July and performance linked incentives (PLI) from April to July. The PLI constitutes a major portion of employees' salary that can range between 40 percent to 97 percent.

The AI official did not divulge the status of PLI payments saying: "June and July salaries would be released at the earliest. The decision on PLIs payment is awaited."

Currently, the airline is laden with a cumulative debt of Rs.40,000 crore it incurred over aircraft acquisition and as short-term loans to maintain its operations and posted losses around Rs.7,000 crore for the last fiscal