Kingfisher extends lockout till 23 Oct; licence remains in limbo

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines has not provided any clear operational plan, how and by when it will get recapitalised, or even a timeline for payment of salary dues to its employees.

And since these were the three major issues on which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulator, had sought clarity before allowing the airline to take off again, it looks highly unlikely that Kingfisher will fly again just yet.

[caption id=“attachment_496775” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The airline had submitted a skeletal plan to the DGCA this evening but the vitals are missing. Reuters[/caption]

The airline had submitted a skeletal plan to the DGCA this evening but the vitals are missing. This forced the regulator to call a series of urgent internal meetings on the next step it must take in the Kingfisher saga, which has been full of twists and turns.

Officials in the Ministry of Civil Aviation have been indicating that a suspension of Kingfisher’s flying licence is imminent.

In a terse statement some time back, the airline merely reiterated that it has extended the “partial” lockout until 23 October. “We had a positive meeting with employee representatives on October 17 and are hopeful of reaching common ground when we meet again next week. Currently, we anticipate resuming operations on November 6, subject to our resumption plan being reviewed and approved by the DGCA.”

Meanwhile, the employees are slated to meet the top management of the airline again on Monday to sort out the mess but a resolution may still be unlikely as neither side wants to budge from its position: employees want salary dues of seven months cleared whereas the management says it only has enough money to pay them for a month.

Airline engineers, who were instrumental in unleashing the present crisis at the airline by refusing to certify planes, told Firstpost yesterday that 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 12 November), not one engineer will return to work.