Vijay Mallya to meet agitating pilots today
As the Pranab Mukherjee presents his Union Budget 2012, Industry experts give their reaction.
Vijay Mallya is going to meet agitating pilots of the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines today in Delhi, the airline said in a statement.
The debt laden carrier issued a statement on Wednesday apologizing passengers who have been hit by the ongoing agitation by pilots. The airline has been cancelling flights across its domestic network and has clubbed several others as several pilots and other staffers did not join duty to protest delays in payment of salary.
Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya had said on Monday that the airline had spoken to the pilots and the matter was being sorted out. "We spoke to our pilots. We are sorting it out," Mallya told reporters in Parliament House.
"We are facing a serious handicap as our accounts are frozen. We are not asking for bailout from the government but hope for help from banking sector to de-freeze our accounts,” he said while answering questions on the severe financial crisis Kingfisher was facing.
Kingfisher officials had earlier said that freezing of accounts by tax authorities resulted in the company managing only 80 per cent of the planned schedule.
They had said that flight loads reduced because of the company's limited distribution ability caused by IATA suspension. "We are, therefore, combining some of our flights," officials said.
In February, Kingfisher had filed a new schedule to the regulator Director General of Civil Aviation, reducing the number of daily flights by almost two-thirds to 175 with the help of 28 aircraft, down from about 460 flights a day with 64 planes.
Kingfisher has been badly hit by one crisis after another. It has accumulated losses of Rs 6,400 crore and piled up debts of Rs 7,000 crore due to high fuel costs. Tax Authorities have frozen its account due to non-payment of dues and the government has also clearly said that it will not bail out the ailing company.
Adding to this mess, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also barred Kingfisher from its Clearing House (ICH) platform. This has led to severe limitation for its operations.