New Delhi:
Kingfisher Airlines, which is on a lockout till October 20, has postponed its proposed meeting with employee representatives to Wednesday. A letter by the airline CEO yesterday had called the employees for a meeting in Mumbai on Monday to bring what he called closure to the current situation. The reason for the shift of date, reportedly, is that executives of the UB Group will not be able to make it to Mumbai on Monday.
The management of the ailing airline has so far failed to convince its striking staffers to join back work. The employees, who are striking over non-payment of dues for seven months, are insisting that the salaries be paid first before they resume duty.
Last week, sources said that the airline management, in an internal mail, has said that due to operational reasons, all flights across its network would be cancelled till October 20.
With all its flights cancelled since the lockout, aviation regulator DGCA has asked liquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned carrier to stop selling tickets following reports that it had started accepting bookings last week before ending its lockout.
Kingfisher had declared a lockout on September 28 till October 4 following the strike, cancelling its entire flight schedule, and extended it till October 12 later. This has now been extended till October 20. On October 5, DGCA issued a show-cause notice to Kingfisher asking why its flying license should not be suspended or cancelled as it had grounded its entire fleet and failed to offer safe, efficient and reliable service. It has given the airline 15 days to reply.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has also said the airline would have to submit a concrete plan to DGCA on safety and salary payments, before it is allowed to resume flights. Kingfisher has been saddled with a loss of Rs. 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another over Rs. 7,000 crore, a large part of which it has not serviced since January.
(With inputs from PTI)