KFA extends lockout till 23 Oct, may resume ops on 6 Nov

Looks like Vijay Mallya’s debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines has gotten a step closer to losing its flying permit.

The airline failed to submit financial recovery plans to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and has also extended the temporary shutdown of its entire fleet till 23 October. The company hopes to resume operations on 6 November the management will also meet the striking employees next weeks after several failed attempts of arriving at some form of consensus.

In a statement, the airline company said that it had a “positive meeting” with employee representatives on October 17 and were hopeful of reaching common ground at a meeting next week.

[caption id=“attachment_496643” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP[/caption]

The lockout was scheduled to end on 20 October.

The airline’s staff has been on strike since 30 September over non-payment of salaries and other dues, and have been insisting that they would resume work only after all dues are paid and assurances are given that salaries would be paid on time. However, the management has so far only promised to pay four month’s salary dues.

The engineers, who were instrumental in unleashing the current crisis at the airline by refusing to certify planes, say unless the airline offers them at least four months’ salary (salary for seven months is due now) and that too before Diwali (which falls on November 12), not one engineer will return to work.

Moreover, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided that Kingfisher will not be allowed to resume flights till it clears its Rs 273 crore dues. AAI’s threat will apply to private airports too as it provides air traffic control and without that clearance pilots can’t even start aircraft engines.

Also the DGCA has not approved any flights for Kingfisher in the winter schedule, which was approved on Wednesday and which comes into effect from 31 October .