Air India pilots have withdrawn their agitation. This has been announced by their union – the Indian Commercial Pilots Association. The withdrawal of the agitation comes close on the heals of Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh announcing in New Delhi that most of the pending salaries and allowance of Air India pilots will be cleared by the end of next week. Talking to reporters he conceded that the national carrier is going through a financial crisis. He said he will hold discussions with the Finance Ministry on Tuesday to discuss the issue and expressed the hope that the issue would be resolved soon.