Growing discontent among the staff of
Kingfisher Airlines is threatening to disrupt the miniscule operations of the
airline in the country.
Not paid since February, all sections of
employees, from pilots to engineers, and even management executives are disappointed
over the continued status quo of the company with no solution in sight.
Since last August, the company has been in
doldrums and reportedly in debts of over `10,000 crore.
A group of pilots has convened a meeting
among themselves and declared that they are going to stop flying from July 5
until at least two months of their arrear salaries are paid.
A cross-section of Kingfisher employees,
including the pilot, had spoken to airlines owner Vijay Mallya through a
videoconferencing, in the presence of airlines CEO Sanjay Aggarwal in Mumbai,
as Mallya was in London. At this meeting, Aggarwal is supposed to have assured
the employees that their salaries would be disbursed within this week or next
seven days. The employees, however, seemed unconvinced.
The dissent is now growing even among other
operational staff.
“Ever since last August, nothing has
changed in the Kingfisher management to rectify or deal with the financial
crisis. The 40 vice-presidents in the company, who are meant to resolve and
take action in their respective departments, have just stayed put as Mallya has
been betting on government support to be bailed out. His promises are now
ringing hollow,” said a senior employee of the airline. The airline is now
operating only 12 of the 16 aircraft.
No comments:
Post a Comment