As the government works on ways to turnaround Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that the national carrier has "unsustainable debt" and legacy issues need to be dealt with. Loss-making Air India is estimated to have a debt burden of more than Rs 48,000 crore and the government's efforts for strategic disinvestment of the carrier failed in May.

"Air India is very clearly a legacy issue. Air India's debt is unsustainable. Forget Air India, nobody can handle that debt. For any airline to service that debt is not possible," Prabhu told PTI in an interview. The best way is to look at how to deal with the legacy issue, he added. Air India has been making losses since the merger with Indian Airlines in 2007.