Goa, F1, volleyball: Can Mallyas please stop living the good life?

“Kingfisher Airlines’ troubles took a turn for the worse after some of its Mumbai-based pilots on Monday joined the strike called by the carrier’s engineers yesterday over non-payment of salaries. Taking note of the tremulous situation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it is “examining the situation” in the wake of mass cancellation of its flights ,” says NDTV.

“The airline’s staff has written to the management demanding payment of salaries, outstanding for seven months now, by Friday, October 5. Shares in Kingfisher Airlines traded lower for a second straight day, falling nearly 5 percent at Rs. 15.35,” NDTV’s article continues.

So while the airline grinds to a painful halt - it is reported that no flights have taken off today - one would imagine that Vijay Mallya and his son Sidhartha Mallya, would be getting into the thick of things and trying to find a solution.

Let’s take a look at what Vijay Mallya is busy with over the past week.

@TheVijayMallya: The media are having a great time slamming me. Let them continue their wild and inaccurate speculation. I will prove all of them wrong.

?@TheVijayMallya: Great drive by Paul Di Resta finishing 4th in the Singapore GP for Sahara Force India F1. Nico unlucky but achieved fastest lap of the race.

The other recent updates have nothing to do with Kingfisher Airlines; Vijay Mallya has retweeted a few tweets of Sid Mallya and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Here’s what Sid Mallya has been up to, according to his updates on twitter:

?@sidharthamallya Ha! RT @atulkasbekar: @sidharthamallya seems hopelessly outnumbered 12:1 at the #KingfisherCalendarHunt in Goa. Anyone wanna even his odds?

@sidharthamallya : Just spent the morning playing volleyball with 12 bikini clad models on the beach…now I understand why people hate me. HA!

@sidharthamallya morning all! please continue to vote for me for the @GQ_India Digital Man Of The Year at http://on.fb.me/PuFEs4 thank u!!x

?@sidharthamallya So this is the current state of affairs on the beaches of goa…shoot has got shafted!! http://lockerz.com/s/248418676

So if one were a worried employee, supplier or any other stake-holder of Kingfisher Airlines, one would learn that Vijay Mallya is upset with the media for ‘slamming’ him and that he’s proud of Sahara Force India’s performance. Sid Mallya, meanwhile, is busy with 12 bikini clad models and the Kingfisher calendar, (which taught him why people hate him, he says) and is talking up support for him to be voted as the GQ Digital Man of the Year.

One is not suggesting, for a moment that Messrs Mallya, father and son, go into mourning and stop living the good life. But can they abstain from updating the ‘good times’ that they’re experiencing? To those who are concerned about not having received their salaries or payments for goods and services rendered, the Mallyas’ updates are hardly confidence-inspiring.

If the media (and others) are slamming Vijay Mallya, it’s because he had demonstrated nothing to show that any solution to the Kingfisher Airline mess is imminent. Worse, he and Sidhartha, between them, are demonstrating that, sadly, they are preoccupied with other cares - other trivial cares. And they are demonstrating a lack of sensitivity to all employees and stakeholders in Kingfisher Airlines, which will not enthuse anyone to ‘support’ Mallya in his attempts to save the airline.