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Kingfisher CEO writes to staff: No way forward if you don't join work

Kingfisher Airlines CEO Sanjay Aggarwal has written a fresh letter to the airline's employees, asking them to join back work. In the letter, Mr Aggarwal has said that if the employees don't report for work there will be "no way forward" for the airline.

Though the letter does not mention anything about the salaries that the staff has not been paid for months, it says the company will be able to present a viable plan to aviation regulator DGCA, that will allow it to resume operations from October 13, only if the staff gets back to work.

Read full letter of the CEO

Earlier in the day, the aviation regulator asked the airline to stop selling tickets following reports that it had started accepting bookings from Friday, a day after the airline proposes to end its lockout.

"We have sent a notice to the airline to stop bookings," a top DGCA official said on Tuesday.

Soon after Kingfisher extended its lockout till October 12, travel agents said ticket sales had resumed for flights starting this weekend.

The airline has got some reprieve as bankers have agreed to release funds of up to Rs 60 crore from escrow accounts for the carrier to make salary payments. However, employees maintain that they have not received any payment so far.

Kingfisher has another 13 days to reply to the notice served on it by the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), asking it as to why its licence should not be cancelled given the fact that it had grounded its entire fleet and failed to offer safe, efficient and reliable service. The show-cause notice was served on the airline on October 5.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has made it clear that the airline would have to submit a concrete plan to the DGCA on safety and payment of salaries before it is allowed to resume flights.

Kingfisher has been saddled with a loss of Rs 8,000 crore and a debt burden of over Rs 7,000 crore, a large part of which it has not serviced since January.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher pilots, engineers and some other staff have been staging protests to demand early payment of their seven month dues, blaming the airline management for "not listening to our problems. We are ready to talk but have not received any response".

Asked whether they planned to intensify their agitation, an engineer said they would decide on the future course of action in the next few days.

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines fell for the seventh day in a row on Tuesday, plunging by nearly 5 per cent to hit the lower circuit limit on bourses.

The cash-strapped airline lost 4.76 per cent to touch the lower circuit limit of Rs. 12 on the BSE in the morning trade. On the National Stock Exchange too, the stock was down 4.76 per cent at Rs. 12.