Will Mallya keep his promise to pay a month's salary today?

**New Delhi:**Is Vijay Mallya making yet another tall promise to his staff?

How else would one describe the assurance from the management of Kingfisher Airlines to its employees last night that they will be paid March salary by this evening and another two months’ dues would be cleared before Diwali?

Where will the airline, which has been saying it can only clear a months’ dues, get the money to clear salary dues for two more months?

In the past, the airline has promised salary payments multiple times but has failed to honour its promise on many occasions.

A Delhi-based engineer confirmed to Firstpost that the management has assured employees of sticking to a timeline for salary payment this time: March dues by this evening, April dues before 31 October and June dues before Diwali (which falls on November 12). “We have all agreed to these conditions. But we want to meet the chairman Vijay Mallya, which the management has not agreed to. We are meeting CEO Sanjay Agarwal this afternoon and will again ask for a meeting with Mallya. We also want a confirmed timeline for payment of remaining dues”.

This engineer said the management has committed itself to paying remaining salary dues as soon as the company gets recapitalized but has shared no details of when this recapitalisation will happen.

Employees, who are in dire financial condition since they have received no salaries for almost eight months now, seem resigned to their fates and say they will accept three months’ pay before Diwali and get back to work. But today’s meeting between the CEO and engineers, pilots in Delhi should bring more clarity to the entire issue.

And even as employees eagerly await salary dues, there is mounting uncertainty over whether Mallya himself would be able to attend the F1 race at Buddh International Circuit from tomorrow. According to a report in the Times of India this morning, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) may impound Mallya’s personal jet (VT-VJM) as soon as it lands in India. The story said Mallya’s staff is worried about whether the air traffic control, which comes under AAI, would allow his jet to fly into India - most probably Bangalore - or ask it to land at the nearest airport on entering India and impound it.

“They possibly wanted to check these things to avoid embarrassment. We are studying legal options to impound VT-VJM as KFA has dues of about Rs 300 crore to AAI. Some cheques issued by Mallya have bounced. So we are treating it as a personal liability and are examining if his personal plane could be impounded,” the story quoted a source in AAI as saying.

Mallya co-owns Sahara Force India team which is participating in the Grand Prix.

The debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines has not been operating flights since 1 October, after which its flying license was suspended by aviation regulator DGCA. Earlier this week, Mallya slammed sections of the media for calling him an “absconder”. “I travel 24x7 where my multiple work responsibilities take me. Sections of media call me an absconder because I don’t talk to them,” Mallya said in a tweet.