Mumbai: A section of pilots of
the near-bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines went on strike on Sunday to protest
against non-payment of salaries for the past five months, forcing the airline
to cancel its ATR-operated flights.
Following
the strike, the airline management has deployed executive pilots to carry out
truncated operations, sources in the airline said.
An
airlines spokesperson confirmed this development, but did not provide any other
details. "More than 200 pilots, including captains, are on strike as the
airline has once again failed to pay salaries to the staff. The employees had a
meeting with the airline chairman Vijay Mallya on the issue, but after he
failed to commit anything on the salary payment, the pilots decided to stop
work," an airline official said on Sunday night.
A
meeting of all employees, including pilots, engineers and cabin crew, has been
convened in Mumbai tomorrow morning to chalk out further course of action, they
said.
"The
airline, which is facing funds drought, has not paid the employees since
February," he added. Earlier also some of its pilots and engineers had
gone on strike, but returned to work after the management assured them of
remitting the salaries. The assurance had come along with some tough talk by
Mallya.
The
cash-strapped airline has neither been able to pay salaries since February nor
has it managed to pay its dues to oil companies and airports. It has also
defaulted on payment of service tax and TDS to the government.
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