Aviation Minister Ajit Singh warns Kingfisher Airlines over frequent cancellations

MUMBAI: The civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, on Tuesday warned Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -4.89 %that the regulator cannot ignore frequent cancellationof flights due to employee agitation in the first sign that the government is getting increasingly irritated with the rising number of disruptions in the airline's schedule.

"Disruption of (flight) schedule has become an issue with Kingfisher Airlines. While the issue of passenger safety is paramount and cannot be jeopardised and DGCA needs to be satisfied that there are no safety concerns, Kingfisher has to also ensure that they operate flights as per the schedule they have submitted to the DGCA," Singh told ET over phone.

"Minor disruptions do happen. But with Kingfisher, the regulator does not even know when they are likely to cancel flights," Singh rued. Some sections in the industry believe the ministry has been lenient with the debt-laden airline.

"Kingfisher will have to ensure it maintains schedule sanctity as the passengers are being inconvenienced when flights are getting cancelled. There is an issue of salaries because of which employees also suffer," Singh said.

Kingfisher Airlines, once India's second-largest airline, has been plagued by frequent cancellations caused by striking pilots and engineers, citing unpaid wages. The cash-strapped airline's employees, including its CEO, have not been paid since April. Banks have stopped funding the Vijay Mallya-promoted airline and lessors have taken away a number of aircraft, reducing its fleet to a minuscule size.

A day after announcing a partial lock-out at Kingfisher Airlines, CEO Sanjay Aggarwal's meeting with the Director General of Civil Aviation did little to placate the regulator.

The CEO reiterated that the promoter is in talks with a few banks for releasing some funds. This will enable the airline to arrange for disbursement of March salaries for employees by October 4.

Aggarwal also conveyed to the regulator that it is looking to restart operations by October 8 and is hopeful that by Thursday, the employees will start reporting back to work. He said the management is in constant dialogue with the agitating workforce.

Kingfisher engineers had demanded pay for at least four months before reporting to work. Pilots joined the agitation on Monday morning and the airline was forced to cancel all of its 65 flights it operates using seven aircraft. This was the first full-fledged shutdown by Kingfisher.

"I had a long meeting with the Kingfisher CEO. Aggarwal informed me that they are in constant discussion with the employees and the airline would be able to put a plan for starting operations by Thursday and start flights by Monday (October 8). They informed they are in discussion with some foreign airlines for possible equity infusion but the process will take a few months," Arun Mishra, DG, civil aviation, told ET. Mishra said Kingfisher will also aim at getting some of its accounts that have been frozen by government authorities active.

The regulator had summoned the airlines' top executives to get the "operational preparedness" of the airline to resume daily flights. "But if such a situation persists at Kingfisher, then we will have to take a view," Mishra said.

Mishra would be submitting a full report on the matter to the civil aviation minster by the evening or on Wednesday. Kingfisher's promoter and Chairman, Vijay Mallya, is reportedly not in the country and has not spoken on the matter so far.

Meanwhile, the tussle between management and the employees worsened as the Chennai faction of engineers wrote to Aggarwal and said they were pained that their non-management counterparts at Mumbai and Delhi were being held responsible for the situation at the airline.

"The mail sent by you has an opaque view about the engineers, which we highly oppose," the engineers wrote, adding they would now join their colleagues at Delhi and Mumbai and not certify a single aircraft from Chennai.

Eager to restart operations, the management has initiated attempts to woo the employees once again. "The management has sent us feelers that they want to talk," said a Kingfisher employee not wanting to be identified.

The employees, however, said they would not relent on their demand of being paid dues of at least four months.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/aviation-minister-ajit-singh-warns-kingfisher-airlines-over-frequent-cancellations/articleshow/16647058.cms?curpg=2

Government's move to control aircraft purchase may push more flights to smaller cities

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The government is set to play a big role in purchase of aircraft by private airlines and may push them into increasing flights to smaller cities under a controversial set of rules that is set to rile the industry.

The civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, is pushing for a more aggressive stance towards private airlines who buy a large number of aircraft and deploy them on a few routes creating overcapacity. He wants them to tailor those purchases and increase flights to non-metro cities and small towns as part of the government's drive to extend and deepen connectivity

But the rules are likely to fall afoul of airlines who want complete freedom in purchases and deployment. The industry has not taken kindly to the ministry's desire to increase flights to smaller airports, saying that such flights will be uneconomical.
Experts say that the government could end up micro-managing the sector and revive memories of a bygone era when government decided the location and quantum of business investment.
"We are going to nudge the airlines to fly to smaller airports but we cannot mandate them to buy any particular type of aircraft," the aviation minister told ET. "What we are looking at is the option that an airline can tie up with a non-schedule operator and have some kind of code share agreement with that operator for enhancing regional connectivity," he added.
The ministry has been talking about the need to increase flights to smaller cities so that passengers in the hinterland can enjoy quick, hassle-free travel. Last month, Ajit Singh gave a clear warning of his intentions when he chided the airlines for their preference for larger planes which he said was hindering connectivity with smaller towns. A revaluation of the policy governing fleet expansion was necessary, he added.
In India, clearance for aircraft purchaseis given by the aircraft acquisition committee, whose members include an official each from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Airports Authority of India, and a joint secretary-level official from the aviation ministry. The committee, which is currently dissolved, vets the purchase proposals with only route dispersal files.

"There will be a committee that will be reconstituted to look into aircraft acquisition by the carriers but the government will be stricter from now on when it gives a go-ahead to any airline to buy an aircraft. We would want an airline to give us a firm business plan. In the past the number of aircraft that have been booked by airlines far exceed the capacity needed and that might become a problem," Singh said.
The airline industry, naturally, is strongly opposed.
"The government is not putting in money in our airlines as they do for Air India. Then why should they dictate where we expand and what aircraft we fly," a top executive of a private carrier, who did not want to be named said.
 
An executive of another carrier said: "There's confusion because of the dissolution of the aircraft acquisition committee. There are some aircraft belonging to Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGothat need to be brought in. But clearance for them is in limbo."
Experts say that the government cannot interfere into aircraft purchases. "Its role is to give broad policy framework," aviation expert Mohan Ranganathan said, adding, "The basics are not being addressed. When policy changes for aviation are taking place, where are the airports in tier-II and -III cities? Airlines are here to do business. They (government) have monopoly over Air India, so let them initiate this policy change for Air India."

The plan to regulate goes against a government panel's recommendation made a year ago that the government should distance itself from the aircraft purchase plans of airlines. Rohit Nandan, former joint secretary in the aviation ministry and now managing director of Air India, headed the panel.

A senior ministry official concurred with private carriers saying that regulating purchases using traffic data could be misleading. "Regulating aircraft acquisition has the fallout of bringing on the licence Raj, where a businessman says show me the airline and I'll show you the traffic," the official said, adding, "Traffic depends on many extraneous factors - political unrest, climate changes anything can affect traffic predictions."

What some airline officials find disturbing about the changes is the uncertainty over what the government would do when armed with powers to "nudge" them into flying to smaller airports. Will new aircraft on trunk metro routes be discouraged? If yes, what will be the impact on financials given that most airlines make the maximum money on these sectors? How exactly will the government push the industry into interior towns and cities, given that many of these airports don't have basic infrastructural facilities?

Under route dispersal guidelines formulated in 1994, airlines are allotted routes segregated into three categories. The category 1 routes cover the metros and cross subsidise for loss-making routes that essentially cover difficult terrain, such as the northeast and Kashmir, which fall under category 3. Category 2 routes link tier-II and -III cities. It is mandatory for all airlines to operate a certain percentage of their flights on categories I and II and expand fleet accordingly but few airlines fulfill these criteria.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-10-02/news/34218051_1_private-airlines-aircraft-smaller-cities

Kingfisher Airlines engineers strike hit flight operations, DGCA to review issue

Kingfisher Airlines' operations were affected with all the flights from Mumbai being cancelled on Monday as the cash-strapped airlines' engineers went on a strike on Sunday to protest the non-payment of salaries since March. Fifteen flights from Delhi were also cancelled on Monday.

A section of the airlines Mumbai-based pilots joined in the strike by its engineers.

Aviation regulator DGCA will on Monday review Kingfisher Airline's operations in the wake of mass cancellation of its flights.
FULL COVERAGE: Kingfisher Crisis

"We will review the situation of Kingfisher Airline," Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Mishra said.

Mishra also said that airline's situation will also be discussed with the Civil Aviation Ministry.

"Almost all Kingfisher aircraft are grounded due to the engineer's strike....some Mumbai-based pilots have also joined in the strike today," sources said.

The airline, saddled with huge debt, is currently operating less than 50 flights with seven aircraft.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh recently said that government will revoke KF's license if it's fleet size goes down below five.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher said in a statement late on Sunday night that, "We are anticipating disruptions and delays of flights on Monday, as it is likely that a section of KF employees may not report to duty due to threat by a section of engineers who are not reporting for duty."

"With a view to mitigating the impact of the anticipated disruption, we are pro-actively cancelling several flights across our network today. We are monitoring the situation and continue to engage with this section of employees to see reason as such action is not only detrimental to the company but directly impact the travelling public," the statement said.

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/kingfisher-strike-hits-flight-operations-dgca-to-review/1/188601.html

Aranmula airport faces new hurdle

The state Land Board has put a spoke into the Aranmula international airport project that was all set to take off following the recent environmental clearance it got from the Centre.

The land board initiated proceedings to take over the entire project area of 232 acres, claiming it was “excess land” under the land reforms act.

The board has served notice on former land owner, Abraham Kalamannil on the ground that he was in possession of land in excess of the 15 acres he was entitled to under the Land Reforms Act.

Abraham, who is the chairman of Kozhencherry Educational and Charitable Trust, had sold the land to KGS Group, promoters of the Aranmula Airport project.

The LDF government had also converted the land into an industrial area to keep the project area out of the ambit of the land reforms act.

How this issue has been raised now, not so far, is unclear.

The land reforms act was passed decades ago, and land ownership records are with the government.

However, Pathanamthitta district land board chairman Abdul Samad claims the board had initiated the proceedings when Abraham was still the owner and long before it was converted into industrial land.

“The KGS Group should not have purchased the landrom Abraham. We have no choice but to take over the land,” he said.

The notice served on Abraham on September 20 says 326.18 acres will be taken over from him under the land reforms act. The airport project area of 232 acres falls within this.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/thiruvananthapuram/aranmula-airport-faces-new-hurdle-954

Airport contract staff under lens

In the wake of the arrest of a contract worker at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, who was caught smuggling liquor from the duty free shop on Sunday, the airport authorities have decided to intensify surveillance on contract workers.

The lapse on the part of the police in inquiring the back ground of an individual before issuing him a clearance certificate to obtain a contract job in the airport, is said to be the main reason.

More than 200 workers are engaged in various works at the airport. Of late, there were several complaints against contract workers, ranging from demanding tips from passengers to looting valuables from luggage.

A majority of such incidents goes unreported. “To curb the unlawful activities of contract staff, we will enhance surveillance in the terminal by deploying more officials”, said airport director V.N. Chandran.
It is alleged that the police often issues certificates only by verifying the station records and not the background of the person.

Recommendation from higher-ups is also another reason that prevents the police from conducting a detailed probe into the individual concerned, said sources.

Sudheer, who was held on Sunday, was never involved in any crimes earlier. “As per our records there’s no case pending against Sudheer”, said Shanghumugham, Assistant Commissioner K.S.Vimal.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/thiruvananthapuram/airport-contract-staff-under-lens-966

High Court asks Air India to file statement

Resumption of cancelled flights

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed Air India to file a statement on the resumption of cancelled flights to destinations in West Asia.

A Bench comprising Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice K. Harilal issued the directive on a petition filed by the Centre for Non-resident Indians and Returnees (CNIR) against the recent cancellation of flights by Air India. The statement should be filed by October 5, the court ordered.

Counsel for the Centre and Air India submitted that flight services had already been resumed from September 29, when the petition was taken up for hearing.

According to the petitioner, passengers to various destinations in West Asia had to face severe hardships because of immediate cancellations of flights by the Air India without notice.

To help private airlines

The petitioner alleged that the action of Air India in cancelling flights was to help certain private airlines and politicians.

The petitioner said the decision to cancel the flights was taken on the instructions from Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ajith Singh.

The reason for cancellation was to arrange flights for Haj pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, the State from where the Civil Aviation Minster hailed, the petitioner said.

The cancellation of flights without notice was arbitrary and illegal.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/high-court-asks-air-india-to-file-statement/article3957109.ece

Duo flee airport after failing to smuggle drug

Two passengers who had brought a sizeable quantity of ketamine hydrochloride to be smuggled into Malaysia sneaked out of the airport here early on Monday after Customs officials, on suspicion, confiscated one of their checked-in boxes.

Airport sources said that the duo came to board a Kuala Lumpur-bound Malaysian Airlines flight around 1.30 a.m.

Customs authorities said they had not taken the ketamine into custody as they were looking into the security lapse. They had asked the airlines to explain how the passengers came to know about the Customs action. A senior Customs official said explanation had also been sought from CISF, and Airports Authority of India officials.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/duo-flee-airport-after-failing-to-smuggle-drug/article3956851.ece

Kingfisher assures DGCA of normal flights from Friday

Protesting employees have, however, hardened their stance

Blaming a small section of employees for disrupting normal operations, Kingfisher Airlines, on Tuesday, assured the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that it would start payment of salaries within the next few days and restore normal operations soon.

The airline had, on Monday, declared a partial lock-out till October 4 after it was faced with a strike by engineers and pilots. On Tuesday, Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal and Executive Vice-President Hitesh Patel met DGCA chief Arun Mishra and laid out their plans for the future to restore normal operations.

They reportedly told the DGCA that the strike by a section of employees had disrupted the flight schedule and the airline had stopped sale of tickets for the present.

“We have shared the steps which we are going to take in the next few days with the DGCA. We have explained our position to the DGCA. We will clear the pending salaries in the next few days. I myself have not got the salary,’’ Mr. Aggarwal told reporters after the meeting with the DGCA.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, on Tuesday, said the airline would not be allowed to fly if safety of the passengers was compromised.

“We will have to look at what their plans and then we will take a decision after reviewing the situation,’’ he added.

“The company would not be allowed to fly an aircraft till it had been certificated for safety by the engineers, Mr. Ajit Singh said.

The airline’s many aircraft have been either taken away by its lessors or grounded in the past few months. Over 80 pilots and 270 engineers have been on intermittent strikes over the past few months, protesting against non-payment of salaries since March.

DGCA officials said that Kingfisher conveyed that they would seek to resume normal operations from Friday but the DGCA would first fully satisfy itself about the safety aspect before allowing the airline to fly.

Airline threatens legal action

Meanwhile, protesting employees have hardened their stance and said they would report to duty only after their salaries were paid. Engineers from Chennai had joined their Mumbai and Delhi counterparts to press for their cause. Kingfisher Airlines, while declaring a partial lock-out on Tuesday morning, put the whole blame on a section of ‘intimidating’ employees. It has also threatened legal action.

“The company is left with no other option but to take firm and decisive steps as advised in law to bring the situation under control. Before commencing the legal action, the company will make efforts to continue to engage with these recalcitrant employees to persuade them to cease and desist from intimidating and threatening others,” Kingfisher Airlines said in a statement.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/kingfisher-assures-dgca-of-normal-flights-from-friday/article3959665.ece

Airport expansion: residents’ plea to Aviation Ministry

GKR Nagar Welfare Association has urged the State Government and the Union Civil Aviation Ministry through Coimbatore MP P.R. Natarajan for excluding some sections of the Nagar from the proposed acquisition plans for expansion of the Coimbatore Airport.

Thanked

The residents as well as the MP have thanked the Airport Authority of India for scaling down the land requirement from 612.97 acres to 594 acres.

However, they pointed out that even the present proposal has plans for acquiring 111 meter from the existing compound wall for the runway expansion.

But, this would result in demolition of 319 houses including 190 concrete houses, 107 asbestos sheet roof houses and 22 tile roofed houses and setback to 309 vacant sites, eight textile mills, 26 engineering industries and 40 small workshops thereby affecting the livelihood of 2,600 people living and working in places such as GKR Nagar, Shree Nagar, College Nagar.

Vacant land

Mr. Natarajan has urged the Union Minister to have a re-look at the entire issue and examine the possibilities of utilising the alternate vacant land opposite to the existing compound wall, so that lot of people, especially retired senior citizens are saved from the ordeal, mental and physical agony of losing all their belongings without jeopardising the airport expansion project.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/airport-expansion-residents-plea-to-aviation-ministry/article3959986.ece

Bahrain Air special packages for W. Asia

Bahrain Air is to launch special packages to visit Bahrain and Dubai shortly. These packages, which will include visas to the two destinations, are offered by Bahrain Air’s holiday operator Farhat Travels.

Bahrain Air special package received encouraging response at the recently held Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), said the airline’s regional manager for the Indian sub continent, Gireesh Bhaskar.

The delegations that participated at the Travel Mart, held in Kochi, included leisure travel professionals from the GCC nations. Bahrain Air offered special packages for all seasons in Kerala for various destinations in West Asia.

“We have been focusing on Kerala as a value for money destination and operate 21 flights a week from Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai,” he said.

G.N. Renuka, regional manager of Inter Globe Air transport, which is the local representative of Bahrain Air said the KTM 2012 has been a major success in boosting Kerala’s image internationally.

Although improvement is required in the tourism infrastructure development, Kerala tourism is on the right path, she said.

For viewers in West Asia, Bahrain Air has produced a documentary film on Kerala in collaboration with Bahrain national TV ‘Channel 2’.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/article3956363.ece

Jet fuel price drops 4.33%; reduction in air fares unlikely

After three months of continuous northward rally, the oil marketing companies on Monday reduced jet fuel price by 4.33 per cent.

However, this is not likely to give any relief for flyers, as there are no signs of airlines reducing the fuel surcharge.

From Monday, a litre of jet fuel would cost Rs 70.52 in Delhi against Rs 73.71 earlier. The last reduction in prices was on July 1 when they came down to Rs 61.17 a litre from Rs 62.41.

Currently, the jet fuel price is 20.38 per cent higher when compared year-on-year.

Airlines have faced higher fuel prices for the past few months. This coupled with the festival season and reduction in seats will not translate to any drop in passenger fares.

“Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) or jet fuel prices during the last few months had gone up substantially. So this 4.3 per cent reduction is not going to impact the fuel bill much. So, there is almost no possibility of change in fare of air surcharge,” said a senior official with a private airline.

With major festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali coming up, there will be greater demand. Moreover, after the reduction in Kingfisher Airlines’ operations, the number of seats in several routes has reduced, the official added.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-money-banking/article3956322.ece

Industry body lobbies for airport infra fund, tax rejig

The Government should consider creating an airport infrastructure development fund and essential airlines services fund, provide infrastructure status to the industry and consider rationalisation of taxes not only on aviation turbine fuel and maintenance but also repair and overhaul facilities, Assocham has said.

In a note to the Government, the chamber, pointing to the development of low-cost airlines, has suggested bringing down the cost of air travel and making it more affordable.

With regard to low-cost airports, the chamber said there was need for airports that would complement the no-frills model offered by low-cost airlines. The chamber sees great scope for domestic civil aviation in connecting tier II and III cities. The cost of setting up these airports can be covered by measures such as doing away with baggage conveyor belts, aerobridges and buses for passengers without compromising on safety and security standards.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/article3956308.ece

Emirates hikes cargo capacity with 2nd Dubai-bound freighter

Emirates SkyCargo expects to increase its market share in the Chennai sector with the recent launch of its second freighter to Dubai. For the last ten years, the airline has been operating one freighter on the Dubai-Chennai-Hong Kong-Dubai route. However, with the growing cargo movement in and out of Chennai, the airline launched a direct freighter between Chennai and Dubai a few days ago.

With this, Emirates directly connects both Eastern and Western regions out of Chennai, said Anthony Gonsalves, Cargo Manager, Tamil Nadu, Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of the Dubai-based Emirates.

There has been a major change in the cargo profile out of Chennai. In the past, the major cargo were textiles and garments while it is now telecom and auto components. “The trend is more towards telecom,” he told Business Line. For instance, nearly 20 per cent of cargo carried by Emirates out of Chennai is for Nokia, he said.

On the import side, the cargo include pharmaceutical, machinery and spare parts from destinations in the US, Europe and China, he said.

Gonsalves said, the second freighter will help the airline carry an additional 400 tonnes of cargo out of Chennai. The monthly average outbound cargo carried by Emirates has increased to 1,800 tonnes, he said. The airline’s share in overall cargo out of Chennai was 11 per cent, and it expects to reach 13 per cent by the end of this fiscal.

Emirates operates 21 weekly flights from Chennai to Dubai offering 316 tonnes of cargo capacity in the belly-hold of the aircraft, as well as two weekly scheduled freighters, he said.

Gonsalves said the airline now operates four freighters out of India — two from Chennai, and one each from Mumbai and Kolkata. On an ad-hoc basis, a freighter calls in at Thiruvananthapuram as well.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/article3956306.ece

No intimation of cancellations, say Kingfisher passengers

Mumbai/Delhi, Oct. 2:  

“Till when will the DGCA turn a blind eye to the Kingfisher (Airlines) circus and ignore the passengers’ suffering?” – tweets Dushyant.

Reacting to the complete halt in flight operations of the beleaguered airlines, passengers vented out their feelings at various social networking platforms. Many turned up at the airports in Mumbai and Delhi demanding a refund for their flight cancellation.

They also allege that the airline did not alert them either by SMS or call about the cancellations.

Archana Sahane, a passenger booked for the Mumbai-Delhi flight, had no idea about the flight cancellation till she saw media reports on Monday night.

“I was told that the flight was delayed by two hours a week back. But ever since the airline crisis escalated, none of the call centre numbers were working. I had to come all the way to the airport to find out the exact situation,” she said.

Also, there is little clarity on who should refund the money on a cancelled ticket. As a result, most travel agents are insisting on booking the passengers on other flights rather than giving a refund.

Earlier this year, Kingfisher Airlines was suspended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) from the billing settlement plan (BSP), a payment mechanism used by agents.

P. Manoj whose Mumbai-Goa flight was cancelled on September 29 is yet to get any response from the company.

“Instead of a refund, we are given options of making our bookings on other airlines. But for that, we have to pay heavily,” said Anand, another passenger.

According to a Mumbai-based travel agent, it should be the travel agent’s responsibility to refund a passenger’s travel cost and recover it from the airline.

“But this is unlikely to happen,” the travel agent said and added that the agents had been forced to book the passengers on other airlines till they recover the money from the airline.

Meanwhile, the airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal claimed that passengers had been informed through SMS and calls about the cancellations and were also being refunded the ticket cost.

He also told the DGCA that there were no passenger complaints at Delhi airport.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/article3959007.ece

No intimation of cancellations, say Kingfisher passengers

“Till when will the DGCA turn a blind eye to the Kingfisher (Airlines) circus and ignore the passengers’ suffering?” — tweets Dushyant. Reacting to the complete halt in flight operations of the beleaguered airlines, passengers vented out their feelings at various social networking platforms. Many turned up at the airports in Mumbai and Delhi demanding a refund.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article3959018.ece

Kingfisher hopes to be airborne on Friday; regulator toughens stand

Pilots, engineers adamant; say no word yet from management

New Delhi, Oct. 2:  

A question mark hangs over when Kingfisher Airlines will restart operations. At a meeting with the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Arun Mishra, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Aggarwal said that Kingfisher will take to the skies on Friday.

The airline’s pilots and engineers, however, claim they have no plans of rejoining work. They have been on strike for the past few days.

After a meeting in Mumbai, the engineers said the status quo would remain and they will not report to work as there had been no communication from the management.

‘Unnecessary, unprovoked’

On Monday night, the airline declared a partial lockout with all flight operations being suspended till October 4.

In a statement, the airline said the decision had been taken following a “series of protracted and unabated incidents of violence, criminal intimidation, assault, wrongful restraint and other illegal acts, including refraining from attending work, by a small section of recalcitrant employees – which were all unnecessary and unprovoked.”

Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s meeting with the DGCA, the airline’s management claimed that it had paid March salaries to 2,000 of its 4,000 employees.

The DGCA was also informed that the management has had discussions with the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs about unfreezing its bank accounts.

Such a step would release about Rs 60 crore, which could be used to pay March salaries to the remaining employees. The airline had given the DGCA such assurances even on an earlier occasion.

Kingfisher officials claimed that they are in advanced talks with two or three companies for investment in the airline. In March this year too, the airline’s promoter Vijay Mallya had told employees the same thing at a meeting here.

Kingfisher officials said they had the full support of local banks, which had told the airline that if it could find an investor, they would cooperate with its restructuring plans.

Safety concerns

DGCA officials communicated to the airline that they would like regular and scheduled services to become operational as early as possible, but that the airline cannot be allowed to run with safety concerns. It was also made clear that before it is allowed to restart, Kingfisher’s operational plans will have to get DGCA’s nod.

No aircraft can take to the skies until it is certified by a qualified engineer of the airline.

DGCA officials also said they were ready to talk to the airline’s employees and added that if the airline came back with its operational plans by Thursday, it could take to the skies by Friday.

The airline said it was incurring an operational loss of Rs 8 crore a day while operating its flights; its operational losses declined by half while not operating its full schedule.

Currently, the airline is operating a fleet of 10 aircraft although it has a staff strength to support 60 aircraft.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article3959016.ece