New Delhi, Aug. 6:
Kingfisher Airline operations around the country
could be affected from Thursday.
The airline’s pilots and engineers have decided
to strike work from August 9, to protest against non-payment of salaries for
seven months.
“So far, that is the consensus. There are a
number of people who have not been paid salaries since February and there is no
response from any one in the company on when the salaries will be paid. The
crew operating the A-330 are the worst off as the airline has stopped operating
these and returned them,” said a pilot.
The airline currently operates about 100 flights
a day, down from over 400 in January.
The decision to launch an agitation comes in the
backdrop of the airline Chairman Vijay Mallya’s expected arrival in the country
on Monday night.
Kingfisher officials did not respond to messages
about the proposed agitation and the company’s plans.
Last Monday, the airline’s Chief Executive
Sanjay Agarwal had met some employees and had reiterated that things would be
normal once foreign direct investment (FDI) was allowed and seized banks
accounts were unfrozen. He, however, did not give any time frame.
The airline earlier had a fleet of 63 aircraft
which is now down to 10, including six Airbus A-320 and four ATR. Generally,
the A-320 aircraft is used for operating flights between metro cities, while
the smaller ATR is used to link tier-II and III cities.
In the first week of July too, the pilots had
threatened to go on strike over non-payment of salaries. On July 14, the
cash-strapped airline’s schedule was affected when employees decided to stay at
home to protest non-payment of wages.
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