Kingfisher pilots strike over non-payment of salaries

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.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kingfisher-pilots-strike-over-nonpayment-of-salaries/268853-7.html

Kingfisher pilots go on strike over non-payment of salaries

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 four of its flights from Mumbai.

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.

A meeting of all employees, including pilots, engineers and cabin crew, has been convened in Mumbai on Monday morning to chalk out further course of action, he said.

Some of Kingfisher pilots and engineers had gone on strike in May, but returned to work after the management assured them of remitting the salaries. The assurance had come along with some tough talk by Mr 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.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/kingfisher-pilots-go-on-strike-over-non-payment-of-salaries-238443

Air India mulling option of hiring junior pilots from overseas markets

Hit by frequent agitations by its unionised pilots, Air India is looking at the option of hiring junior pilots from overseas markets, a move that may trigger policy change as the current regulations do not allow recruitment of expats for that position.

The carrier, which is crippled by the ongoing 55-day-old strike by a section of pilots, has approached some recruitment firms for hiring foreign pilots, say sources familiar with the development.

"Along with hiring domestic co-pilots, which is currently in process, Air India also plans to hire junior expat pilots as well. The move, perhaps, is aimed at preempting agitations in future," sources said.

The national carrier had last month issued an advertisement inviting applications from qualified commanders and co-pilots for flying its Boeing fleet , following 420 of its pilots, owing allegiance to now-derecognised Indian Pilots Guild, refusing to call off their stir despite repeated appeals by aviation minister Ajit Singh.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: No plans to privatise Air India, says Ajit Singh

The hiring of expats will, however, require tweaking some existing norms as the current DGCA rules stipulate that domestic carriers can only recruit commanders, if required, and not co-pilots, they pointed out.

"The present DGCA rules bar carriers from hiring expat co-pilots so that the domestic holders of commercial pilot licence, who are in large numbers, get fair employment opportunities. So, if Air India goes ahead with hiring expats at the junior levels, the government will have to amend these norms," sources said.

Moreover, the process of hiring expats is also longer compared to the recruitment of domestic co-pilots as they need security clearance from the Home Ministry.

FULL COVERAGE: Air India crisis

"The entire process takes at least four months from the time of scrutiny of the resume to the time when one is put to flying," they said.

Over 420 IPG pilots are on strike since May 7 and 20 of them are sitting on an indefinite hunger strike, demanding career progression and revocation of sack orders against 101 of their colleagues.

The management and the ministry have been maintaining that termination notices would be considered on a case-to-case basis only after the pilots withdrew their agitation.

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/air-india-crisis-airline-may-hire-expat-co-pilots/1/185958.html

Foreign airlines tap new Indian markets

As metro airports in India become more expensive to operate from, foreign airlines with existing bilateral rights are flying in to new markets in India, especially Tier II cities.

Earlier, foreign carriers had the maximum number of outbound passengers from the four metros, but with outbound traffic increasing manifold from the Tier-II and Tier-III cities, European and Gulf-based carriers are looking to pick up passengers from the smaller cities.

For instance, Etihad Airways will start daily flights to Ahmedabad in November 2012. This will be Etihad Airways’ ninth destination within India. Etihad Airways serves the major population centres across India with direct flights to Abu Dhabi. Ahmedabad will make significant contributions in traffic flows to Abu Dhabi and beyond, as it is an economic centre,” James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer said, adding that the airline anticipates strong traffic flows onto its European and the US destinations.

A new international terminal is coming up at the small airport of Coimbatore. Its sizeable business community, which otherwise had to travel to Chennai for an outbound flight, now have Silk Air and Air Arabia at their doorstep connecting the Gulf and the European sectors.

Keeping the increased traffic in view, Cathay Pacific will operate a daily flight from Chennai from September this year. Earlier, the airline operated just four days a week from Chennai.

Dragonair, a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, will begin services between Hong Kong and Kolkata, subject to government approval and the opening of its new international terminal, reveals Rakesh Raicar, Dragonair’s Regional Sales and Marketing Manager (South Asia).

Gulf-based carriers have been the biggest beneficiaries of India’s liberal and Open Sky policies. For instance, Emirates operates 185 flights from 10 Indian destinations. Emirates cashed in, when Air India failed to mount additional aircraft on the cash-rich Gulf routes.

“Apart from the metros, Emirates operates from Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Kozhikode with an average load factor of 80 per cent across all Indian destinations,” revealed Orhan Abbas, Vice President (India and Nepal), Emirates airlines.

The pace of expansion and growth is also higher with the Gulf-based carriers as compared to their European counterparts. “Gulf’s efficiency of connecting through a larger hub and spoke systems and their geographic location gives them a upper hand in connecting to Indian destinations at lower-costs,” explains Nawal Taneja, an aviation business strategist. Not only do the Gulf carriers have the oil cost advantage, but also the rapid expansion and optimum use of their sixth freedom traffic to connect to other destinations via their hub has helped them bring more volumes.

“Emirates, for example, offers service from five cities in England (Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, and London) to Dubai, from which it serves 10 cities in India. There may only be few passengers from, say, Birmingham to Hyderabad, but when you combine all the passengers originating from Birmingham and destined for all ten cities in India, not to mention all other cities served by Emirates in the Asia-Pacific region, it makes the route viable for Emirates, but not for British Airways,” Taneja said.

http://newindianexpress.com/business/article556093.ece

AI pilots’ strike: Hard time for Gulf Malayalis

Arundev, a 26-year-old NRK in Dubai who hails from Harippad in Alappuzha, is in a fix.

For the past several days, he has been desperately trying for a ticket to travel to Kerala to attend the marriage of his cousin, but in vain. Tickets on almost all airlines have been sold out till mid-September and now he has lost hope to join his family on the joyous occasion.

Arundev is not alone; thousands of Malayalis in the Gulf region are facing travel worries following the strike by a section of AI pilots. And many haven’t applied for leave during Onam owing to the shortage of air tickets. “The situation is quite unprecedented,” says YSG James, president of the Kairali Pravasi Association, Dubai.

“Not just non-availability of tickets, the jacked up rates are unaffordable to around 80 per cent of the Malayalee population here who are workers and labourers. Right in the beginning of the strike we had written to the Centre and the State Governments to intervene in the issue but nothing positive happened,” he said.

“Ticket charges to the Gulf sector have increased manifold after the strike and now there is not a single ticket available till September 15 to the Gulf sector,” says K V Muraleedharan, president of the Kerala Association of Travel Agents.

“The charges which ranged between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 before the strike has now increased manifold to `30,000 - `60,000,” he said. However, the AI officials said that the situation was common every year during the peak season from July to mid-September.

“The only difference this year is the exorbitant rates charged by other carriers owing to the twenty percent cancellation of AI schedules,” said Abey George, Air India PRO. The NRK associations are now demanding the Centre to declare the Open Sky Policy in the Gulf sector which will help them to get more services at competiive rates.

“Though we submitted several memoranda to the Centre in this regard, the government has not considered the option,” said Rajesh Rajendran, secretary of an NRK association in Qatar.

“The strong Kerala presence in the Union Cabinet hasn’t helped the cause,” he adds. NORKA Minister K C Joseph said that the government could do little on the issue. “It’s true that the NRKs are having a tough time. The Chief Minister and myself will meet Union Civil Aviation Minister this week and appraise him of the grave situation. We hope the issue would be settled soon,” the Minister said. However, the NRKs are not quite optimistic as Joseph.

“I have a collection of around 300 assurances by Kerala ministers,” said YSG James who has been working in Dubai for 45 years.

“Politicians remember us only when they need money. They will visit us to collect funds and leave after offering hollow promises,” he said.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article556167.ece

Air India pilots' strike is second longest in country's aviation history

New Delhi: The strike by a section of Air India pilots will on Monday enter the 57th day, to attain the notorious distinction of becoming the second longest strike in the country's aviation history.

The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), the union of Air India pilots, had also struck work in 1974 against cost cutting measures when fuel prices shot up alarmingly.

The 1974 strike lasted for well over 90 days. In 1993-94, a strike by Air India flight engineers lasted for 56 days.

Before the 1993-94 strike, the distinction of the second longest strike was held by AI's sister organisation Indian Airlines, whose pilots went on a five-week stir in 1991-92 demanding more wages.

The current strike started on May 8 when pilot members of the IPG went on mass sick leave, protesting the move to provide Boeing-787 Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines.

After putting forth an original list of 14 demands, the aviators are now asking for reinstatement of their 101 sacked colleagues.

The airline has maintained that pilots must first end their strike and the sacked pilots will be reinstated on a case-by-case basis.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said earlier: "Sacked pilots will be taken back on a case-by-case basis. But for this to happen, they must end the illegal strike."

The airline has suffered estimated revenue losses of more than Rs 610 crore. Grounded fleet of Boeing 777s, unused manpower and absence from key routes have hit the airlines' chances of a financial turnaround.

The strike has crippled Air India's international operations, stranding thousands set to fly to East Asia and the Middle East.

The striking pilots have started an indefinite hunger strike since June 24. Nearly five of 11 fasting pilots have been hospitalised.

Officials at Airlines House, Air India's New Delhi-based headquarters, are confident of resolving the situation by hiring new pilots.

The current strike is the longest since Air India and Indian Airlines merged in 2007.

There have been five major strikes since the merger. The longest was by ICPA which lasted 10 days (April 27 to May 6, 2011) to demand pay parity.

Though there is no exact figure on how much the airline has lost since 2007 due to strikes, a blame game is on between Air India and Indian Airlines cadres.

"Estimated revenue losses depend upon the nature of strike, as factors like ticket cancellations, loss of routes and unused contractual obligations have to be factored in," an Air India official said.

According to him, a stir by cabin crew may not be as potent as that of pilots.

Besides revenue and reputation loss, strikes also provide opportunities to other employee unions to add pressure to get their demands fulfilled, he added.

"Each strike inspires other industrial actions. A stir by one union will prompt the members of other unions to force their leadership to get them a sweet deal as well," he said.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ai-pilots-strike-2nd-longest-in-aviation-history/268889-3.html

Malaysian Airlines ordered to pay compensation to passenger

A district consumer forum has ordered Malaysian Airlines to pay a compensation of Rs.50,000 to a passenger whose baggage was found missing, holding that “it amounts to deficiency in service.”

Apart from directing to pay compensation for the mental agony and Rs.5,000 for cost of proceedings, the Chennai (South) forum also asked the Malaysian Airlines to pay $ 400 equivalent payable in Indian currency to the passenger for the missing items within six weeks. If the airlines failed to pay, the said amount should carry interest at the rate of 9 per cent till date of payment.

A. Antoniasamy of Coimbatore had travelled from San Francisco to Chennai on October 20, 2006. Before commencing journey, his baggage was checked-in by the airlines. On reaching Chennai, he found that in the ‘check-in’ baggage, a LCD TV and a tuner were found missing. He received only the carton box which contained TV.

In complaint, Mr. Antoniasamy said he had filed the Property Irregularity Report to the Malaysian Airlines in Chennai.

The Malaysian Airlines came forward to settle the issue by paying $ 400 towards the loss of baggage. But he did not accept the offer and he insisted that the Airlines pay cost of Rs.58,292 for the stolen things.

However, the Malaysian Airlines contended that the baggage of the complainant was first checked-in by the original carrier Cathay Pacific at the time of boarding in San Francisco. Later it, was shifted to another air carrier in Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific handed over baggage to Malaysian Airlines in Kuala Lumpur to be delivered to the complainant in Chennai. Major part of the journey of the complainant was through Cathay Pacific and Cathay Pacific had recorded the weight of baggage. However, the airlines said according to the Warsaw Convention, the carriers’ liability was US $ 20 per kg weight loss but it offered US $ 400 for the loss.

Delivering an order on the complaint, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, comprising its president V. Gopal and member L. Deenadayalan said that out of the two baggage, one of the baggage alleged to contain LCD TV and tuner was not delivered to the complainant. The loss of baggage was admitted.

“One of the baggage was not handed over to the complainant by the opposite parties (Malaysian Airlines) and this act of the opposite parties in not delivering the said baggage amounts to deficiency in service.”

Rejecting the complainant’s claim to pay of Rs.58,292 towards the loss, the forum said he had not declared to the customs at the time of boarding that the cardboard contained TV. Only on his return to Chennai, he had filed Property Irregularity Report.

The forum also said the airlines already offered US $ 400 towards the loss of baggage as per Warsaw Convention and the complainant was entitled to that amount.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3592874.ece

Kochi flight to be promoted

Travel Club and Confederation of Indian Industry, Madurai Zone, plan to promote the Madurai-Kochi Air India flight, to be launched on Monday.

Addressing the press here on Sunday, Travel Club president B.S.G. Musthafa said that airliners such as Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Emirates Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Air Asia, Gulf Air and Sri Lankan Airlines operated international flights from Kochi. The two organisations were also pushing for connectivity to Bangalore. With Madurai having been declared a customs airport, passengers could catch international flights through Kochi once the immigration counters came up at Madurai.

Mihin Lanka had already assured Travel Club that it would launch a flight service between Colombo and Madurai in the winter schedule (November).

Air India flight AI9503 will depart from Kochi at 3.30 p.m., arrive at Madurai by 4.35 p.m. and return to Kochi as AI 9504 by 5.20 p.m. It would be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with an ATR aircraft with a seating capacity of 48.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3593356.ece

Kingfisher pilots go on strike

Some pilots of the near-bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines went on strike on Sunday to protest against the non-payment of salaries for the past five months. The airline cancelled its ATR-operated flights.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article3592871.ece

Immigration unit in Tiruchi airport networked

The Immigration unit at the Tiruchi Airport has been networked with the Bureau of Immigration headquarters at New Delhi as part of increased security measures. The connectivity would help the Immigration authorities to monitor the movement of passengers better.

It would also give the Immigration authorities here access to the ‘look out circulars’ issued against certain persons, which are centrally pooled in New Delhi. This eliminates the possibility of any delay in the circulars reaching the authorities here.

Besides, the network also obviates the need for manual compilation of data of passengers as given in the embarkation and disembarkation cards, which are now directly fed into the system.

The connectivity, established by the National Information Centre, comes as part of enhanced security measures planned by the Bureau of Immigration.

Plans are afoot to connect the airport with the Foreign Regional Registration Officers and the superintendents of police who function as Foreign Registration Officers .

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article3593148.ece

Bankers’ meet on July 5 to decide Kingfisher Airlines’ fate

Management may present a roadmap for equity fund infusion

New Delhi, June 30:

Lenders to cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines Ltd are likely to meet in Mumbai on July 5 to review the airline’s financial position.

This has led to a buzz in the market that some form of loan restructuring could be put on the table for consideration of the bank consortium, led by State Bank of India.

Indications are that the airline management may present a roadmap for equity fund infusion. It may also possibly make a case for loan restructuring by the existing bank consortium, sources close to the developments said.

This meeting assumes significance as the beleaguered airline had recently taken steps to reduce costs and also get its accounts upgraded with a lender who had done pre-delivery payment (PDP) aircraft finance.

However, there is no immediate plan on the part of the bank consortium to pump in more working capital funds into the airline, sources indicated to Business Line.

There have been talks of Government fast-tracking the proposal to allow foreign direct investment in domestic airlines.

This could gain momentum with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, taking charge of the finance portfolio. The airline’s Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, reportedly met with the PM shortly after he assumed charge of the portfolio.

Through an escrow fund mechanism, banks are already having tight control over the airline’s cash flows. For the quarter ended March 2012, many of the state-owned banks had categorised the airline as non-performing asset and made provisions for their exposure.

With the private airline reportedly defaulting on lease rentals of over Rs 1,000 crore, lessors had recently taken back 34 aircraft. However, the company maintained that it had returned the aircraft and that the aircraft had not been taken away by the lessors.

From 64 aircraft in November last year, the Vijay Mallya-owned airline is now left with only 13 aircraft

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-corporate/article3589387.ece

Madurai-Kochi Air India flight proposed

Madurai, July 1:

Air Indiahas proposed to launch a flight service between Kochi and Madurai. Mr G. Vasudevan, Past President, Travel Club, Madurai, in a statement here said that the proposed flight AI 9503 is likely to depart from Kochi at 3.30 p.m. and arrive at Madurai by 4.35 p.m. In its return journey, it would leave as AI 9504 and reach Kochi by 5.20 p.m. and would be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with an ATR type aircraft. The service would be a boost to Madurai as it would connect the temple city to a number of foreign destinations as Air India and many other airliners are operating from Kochi. He urged the State and the Centre to establish immigration facilities in Madurai Airport at the earliest so that passengers can have their immigration and customs formality done in Madurai itself and proceed to their foreign destinations easily via Kochi.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/article3592335.ece