Friday, 5 October 2012

Air India receives first South Carolina-made Boeing 787

Today's delivery is the third 787 for Air India, and by March 2013 it will have taken 8 of the 27 Dreamliners it ordered in 2005

Representatives from Air India took delivery on Friday of the first Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner made in South Carolina and the first manufactured outside Boeing Commercial Airplane's headquarters in Washington state.
The delivery marks another milestone in Boeing's efforts to broaden its production base beyond Washington, where all of its other jets have been built. The 787 is largely outsourced to other countries, with wings and other parts shipped in for final assembly to Boeing facilities in Washington and now, South Carolina. Boeing's corporate headquarters are in Chicago.
Airplane built, airplane completed, airplane flown and now today, airplane delivered," said Jack Jones, chief executive of Boeing South Carolina whose $750 million final assembly plant in North Charleston was started in fall 2009. Production began in the summer of 2011. The first plane was completed in April.
Boeing South Carolina also makes and assembles the mid-body and aft-body fuselage sections for all 787s at the plant.
"Three years ago, nothing was here," Jones said. "Some of these employees - a year and half of experience. That's unprecedented. It's also historic."
Today's delivery was the third 787 for Air India. It took delivery of two more last month, both made in Washington.
By March 2013, the state-owned airline will have taken eight of the 27 Dreamliners it ordered in 2005.
"We should have had all 27 aircraft by 2008," said Air India board member K.M. Unni, speaking at a delivery ceremony in North Charleston.

Boeing's new, lightweight, fuel-efficient passenger jet was plagued by years of supply chain problems and production delays.

Delivery of Air India's completed 787s was further delayed this summer by talks between Boeing and the Indian government over compensation for the production delays and by bureaucracy, said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's vice president of sales and marketing for Asia-Pacific and India.

"These airplanes were late," Keskar said. The decision to accept compensation "had to go all the way to the cabinet of the country."

The 787 is a key component of the troubled airline's turnaround strategy, officials said. The jets are now in domestic service and also fly to Dubai, and by mid-October, the airline will open 787 routes to Frankfurt, Paris and London, Unni said. Next year, Air India will open 787 routes to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Osaka and Australia, he said.

By 2031, India will have the fourth-largest economy in the world, Keskar said. "No place in the world, including China, has a greater rate of growth," he said. Boeing forecasts that India will need 1,450 airplanes in the next 20 years, Keskar said.

"Roughly 234 of those airplanes will be the 787, 777 type of airplanes," Keskar said.

Boeing also forecasts that Asia is going to take 40% of the world's airplanes in the next 20 years, he said. The company has delivered 28 Dreamliners as of Friday, Keskar said. It has orders of 824 more from 58 customers, he said.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/air-india-receives-first-south-carolina-made-boeing-787/189942/on

Kingfisher's wings could be clipped Ministry sends notice asking why its licence should not be cancelled, raises questions over safety

Ministry sends notice asking why its licence should not be cancelled, raises questions over safety

Further tightening the noose around the ailing Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), the civil aviation ministry on Friday slapped a showcause notice on the airline, asking it why its licence should not be cancelled.
The airline confirmed the development, saying: “We have received a showcause notice from the DGCA which we have to reply to within 15 days. We will send a detailed response to the DGCA well in time.We will also submit a comprehensive plan for restoration of services after negotiations with our employees.”
Yesterday, after the talks with employees on their coming back to work failed, the beleaguered airline had extended the deadline to lift the partial lockout to October 12.
WORSENING FINANCES
  • Accumulated losses Rs 9,880 cr (till June 30)
  • Total debt (promoter debt+trade debt+ other short-term liabilities) Rs 12,948cr(including bank debt of Rs 5,720 cr)
  • Promoter contribution and UB Group Securities Rs 5,200crof which Rs 1,144 cr has been infused in last 3-4 monthsCapa (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation) report on KFA
KEY FACTS
As on
Total registered
fleet
Total operational
fleet
Nov 11
66
56
Mar 12
61
36
Jun 12
43
16
Sep 12
42
10
The move came a few hours after Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said his ministry would take a tough stance against the carrier: “The (Kingfisher) management has declared a lockout. DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is looking into legal issues and intends to issue a showcause notice on suspension or cancellation of licence. He (DGCA chief) intends to go ahead with the notice.”
Singh added the non-payment of salary by the airline had not directly impacted the safety until some time back. “But, with the engineers on strike and no air-worthiness certificate for the flights, the safety is directly compromised and this is in breach of the regulations.”
However, experts say the airline has breached the DGCA regulations on many counts. A former DGCA chief says KFA had cleared a schedule to run its summer schedule with 20 aircraft and 120 flights a day, but it reduced its flights to nearly half the number and operated only 10 aircraft, without taking any clearance from DGCA. Based on this, DGCA can impose a suspension order on the airline, citing schedules not being maintained.
Also, DGCA can cancel an airline’s permit to fly on the ground that “its operating capability” has deteriorated. This is the case with KFA.
After the airline replies, an internal investigation would be undertaken by the ministry to examine if its reply is satisfactory. Based on that, the future course of action would be decided.
The action started after Director-General of Civil Aviation Arun Mishra gave KFA an ultimatum that it give a timeline for paying its employees, besides furnishing a “satisfactory and realistic” operational preparedness plan, before it could get permission to fly again.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kingfisher/s-wings-could-be-clipped/488718/

Assocham proposes airport development fund


The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has proposed creation of an Airport Infrastructure Development Fund and Essential Airlines Services Fund, extending of infrastructure status to aviation industry, rationalisation of taxes on ATF, MRO and establishment of a National Aviation University to make the industry world-class.
The chamber, in a note to the government said, India is the ninth largest civil aviation market and passenger traffic has grown from 46 million during FY02 to 162 million in FY12 and cargo from 0.92 million tonnes to 2.28 million tonnes during the same period, giving a CAGR of 13 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
While five Indian carriers operate international flights, it has added 280 aircraft during this period to reach 410; the aircraft fleet market size is estimated around $9 billion. The Private sector has had a major share in this growth with four international airport projects that got investments of over $6 billion.
The expectation is, in the next five years India would need another 1,000 aircraft of various types by FY17. Some 35 non-metro airports would be upgraded and five non-metro airports modernised.
Listing the “significant potential” for the country’s aviation industry, the study points to the opportunities in infrastructure development for wider business, more passenger benefits and economic growth of the country through expansion of civil aviation. It underlines that of the estimated investment of Rs 67,500 crore during the 12th Plan in the sector, as much as Rs 50,000 crore would come from the private sector.
Pointing out that the market share of low cost carriers has risen from 29 per cent in FY06 to about 70 per cent, the study says “this highlights the need to bring down the cost of air travel” and “to make it a more affordable and visible mode of transport”.
With regard to the low cost airports, the chamber says, “there is a need for airports which will complement the no-frills model offered by LCCs. There is great scope for a new dimension for the India civil aviation in connecting to tier II and tier III cities. This should be seen in the context of the rapid urbanisation of the country and the emergence of several smaller towns as industry and business centres.”
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/assocham-proposes-airport-development-fund/488657/

Flight cancellations were beyond control: Air India


KOCHI: Cancellation of Air India Express flights in September was due to reasons beyond the control of the management, Air India submitted to the Kerala high court on Friday.
Responding to a petition that challenged frequent cancellation of flights as well as demanded provision for alternative arrangements, Air India filed a seemingly brief affidavit, which, however, did not state the exact reason for the cancellations.
Air India Express operates 50 flights from Calicut and 17 flights from Thiruvananthapuram and 28 flights from Cochin to Middle East every week. However, between September 17 and 28, due to reasons beyond the control of the management of Air India Express, 11 flights from Calicut, six from Thiruvananthapuram, and one from Cochin had to be cancelled, the affidavit stated.
Further, Air India pointed out that upon cancellation, passengers were given alternative flights as well as hotel accommodation and surface transportation or rebooking tickets for another date without any additional charge or full refund. No individual passenger raised a complaint in this regard, the affidavit said.
The petition filed by Centre for Non Resident Indians and Returnees through advocate Sivan Madathil had alleged that though passengers book their tickets well in advance, it has become a practice with Air India to cancel flights without any advance notification or valid reason.
Taking advantage of this, private airline operators increase fares all of a sudden. Frequent cancellation is aimed at creating the impression that Air India Express is a failure and is intended to help private airline operators, the petitioner had alleged.
Cancellation of Air India Express flights in September was due to reasons beyond the control of the management, Air India submitted to the Kerala High Court on Friday.
Responding to a petition that challenged frequent cancellation of flights as well as demanded provision of alternate arrangements, Air India filed a seemingly brief affidavit, which, however, didn't state the exact reason for the cancellations.
Air India Express is operating 50 flights from Calicut and 17 flights from Trivandrum and 28 flights from Cochin to Middle East every week. However, during the period from 17th to 28th September due to the reasons beyond the control of the management of Air India Express, 11 flights from Calicut, 6 from Trivandrum, one from Cochin had to be cancelled, the affidavit stated.
Further, Air India has pointed out that upon cancellation of flights, passengers were given alternate flights to their destinations including hotel accommodation and surface transportation, or rebooking the tickets for another date without any additional charge, or full refund. No individual passenger has raised a complaint in this regard, the affidavit said.
The petition filed by Centre for Non Resident Indians and Returnees through advocate Sivan Madathil had alleged that though passengers have booked their tickets well in advance, it has become a practice with Air India to cancel flights without any advance information or valid reason.
Taking advantage of the frequent cancellation of flights by Air India, private airline operators increase fares all of a sudden. Frequent cancellation of flights by Air India is aimed at creating the impression that Air India Express, the low cost operation by Air India, is a failure and is intended to help private airline operators, the petitioner had alleged.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Flight-cancellations-were-beyond-control-Air-India/articleshow/16693533.cms

DGCA issues show-cause notice to Kingfisher Airlines


NEW DELHI: Kingfisher Airlines' troubles seem to have received a final blow as sector regulator DGCA has issued show-cause notice to the debt and loss laden airline to explain abrupt cancellation of flights and non-adherence to schedule within 15 days.

"If they are unable to give a satisfactory response, their license stands to be cancelled or suspended under clause 15 2(B) of Schedule 11 of aircrfat rules," an official from ministry of civil aviation told ET.

The Vijay Mallya-owned carrier hurtled towards a dead-end on Friday as the carrier grounded its fleet for another week till October 12.

The carrier has been grounded since October 1 as employees struck work over non-payemtn of seven months' salary. The tiff between the staff and the management reached a deadlock when the workers insisted for a minimum salary for four months, while the management only promised a months' pay.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Mishra has asked Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -4.68 % to include clearance of employee dues in their recovery plan.

In a tragic incident on Thursday, Kingfisher Airlines' technician Manas Chakraborty's 45-year old wife Sushmita Chakraborty committed suicide blaming financial stress.

A suicide note written by her was recovered from the spot in which she has spoken of being under financial stress due to non-payment of salary to her husband.

According to a report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), Kingfisher Airlines may have to shut down operations if $600 million is not infused in it in the next two months.

The company reported a net loss of Rs 650.78 crore ($117 million) for the quarter ended June 30.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/dgca-issues-show-cause-notice-to-kingfisher-airlines/articleshow/16686997.cms

DGCA fires notice to KfA on flying licence


Billionaire liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airline is in deep trouble now.
Apex civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday issued the debt laden, cash starved airline a show cause notice asking the airline’s management as to why its licence should not be cancelled or suspended as it had declared a lockout, grounded its entire fleet of 14 aircraft and failed to offer safe and reliable service.
The DGCA has given the carrier 15 days to reply to the notice.
In the notice DGCA chief Arun Mishra said “It had been observed that the airline was not adhering to its flight schedule and abruptly cancelled its flights time and again during the last 10 months causing great inconvenience to the travelling public.”
Mishra maintained that the violations amounted to Kingfisher not complying with the provisions of the Aircraft Rules 1937 and the regulator questioned the airline why action should not be taken against it for this violation.
Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh made it very clear that Kingfisher Airline will have to satisfy DGCA on all safety parameters before it is allowed to resume its commercial operations once again.
The cash starved airline which was trying to resume operations from Friday has extended its lock out by a week till October 12. Talks between the employees and the management failed on Thursday as the employees did not agree to the assurance that they would be paid their full salaries once the airline is recapitalised.
Meanwhile in Mumbai, scores of Kingfisher Airlines employees, including pilots, engineers and technicians, took out a procession to the airlines office here on Friday to demand their pending salaries and other dues.
“We are making three demands only - salary, salary, salary,” the protesting employees said while participating in a protest rally.
The airline that has never made a profit since 2005, when it started its operations is saddled with debts to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore is also laden with losses to tune of Rs 8,000  crore.
Meanwhile, several of its aircraft have been either taken away by its lessors or grounded by the Airports Authority of India for non-payment of airport fees and fuel bills to oil marketing companies during the past few months.
“There are a lot of factors involved in it. That include the salaries of the employees, their disgruntlement issues and others. If the employees are disgruntled there is an issue of safety,” Singh told reporters when asked about the fate of once famed domestic carrier.
Striking engineers and pilots have rejected the airline management’s offer of one month salary dues in the next few days and remaining amount once the airline is recapitalised.
Singh said the Kingfisher employees were hopeful till this stage and these strikes were limited to only a section of employees but now engineers have gone on strike raising the  problem of maintenance.
“There are lot of companies that fail. There are a number of them that revive after failing. If a company has a loss period of five years it does not mean it can t revive itself. Here we have only two responsibilities.  One is that the planes must fly safely and second is that they maintain their schedules so that there is no inconvenience to the passengers,” Singh said.
Adding each aircraft must have an airworthiness certificate from engineers before it can fly. The planes must be airworthy and they (engineers) have to give a satisfactory report to the DGCA that the planes will be flying safely,” the minister said.
Sushmita Chakraborty (45) wife of Manas, a Kingfisher employee committed suicide on Thursday citing financial stress as the reason for her extreme step.
http://newindianexpress.com/business/news/article1287537.ece

DGCA issues show-cause notice to Kingfisher


The airline employees intensify agitation
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has issued a show-cause notice to Kingfisher Airlines, to be replied within 15 days, seeking why its permit should not be cancelled or suspended under the provisions of Section 15(2) (b) of Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, as the airline has failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable service.
“Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh, while taking a note of the situation, has said that there will be no compromise on safety of aircraft operations.  The government has also taken legal opinion in this regard,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
“As per Section 15(2)(b) of Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, the DGCA may cancel or suspend the permit of an Airline for such period as it thinks fit, if its is satisfied that the holder of the permit has failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable service,” the statement added.
The Ministry said the Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher Airlines had assured the DGCA to resume operations by the October 5 but the Airline had not been able to resolve its issues.
“They have not approached the DGCA with any operational plan. The DGCA reviewed the current situation of the airline on Friday, and decided to issue the show-cause notice to the airline,” the statement added.
Lenders to release Rs.60 cr.
Meanwhile, the employee unrest is now spilling over to the streets. The striking employees of the airline have intensified their agitation as the management has hardened its stance to force employees to unconditionally call off the stir and join work.
Despite Kingfisher’s lenders agreeing to release Rs.60 crore from an escrow account, the management has not yet spelt out any thing regarding payment of salary, which is pending since March.
With Rs.60 crore, two months salary can be cleared, and the UB group is believed to be mobilising funds to clear salary for two more months.
In Mumbai and Delhi, protesting employees demanded immediate payment of their dues. Over 200 employees - mainly engineers, technicians and pilots - gathered at the Mumbai airport on Friday, and shouted slogans against the management.
In Delhi, around 300 employees organised “a flag march” at Jantar Mantar to demand immediate release of salary.
“We want all seven months salary, but the management is not talking to us. This is inhuman to force unpaid employees to join work. Now the management is trying to portray us as criminals for demanding our wages. Actually who is criminal?” said an employee.
Protesting employees in Chennai and Bangalore refused to meet the management to conduct pointless discussion.
While extending the lock-out till October 12, Kingfisher Airlines in a statement, on Thursday, stated that the illegal strike by a fraction of employees had still not been withdrawn.ement.

Inaugural Haj flight today


Haj camp begins at Karipur
This year’s Haj camp, organised by the State Haj Committee, began at the State Haj House at Karipur on Friday evening.
Karipur is the embarkation point for the Hajis of Kerala, Lakshadweep and Mahe. The first batch of pilgrims arrived at the camp on Friday evening. The second batch is expected to reach at night.
State Haj Committee Chairman Kottumala T.M. Bapu Musliar said the committee had arranged the facilities for the pilgrims in such a way that they ought to reach the camp only 14 hours before the departure of their flight. This when the Central Haj Committee has stipulated that the pilgrims should reach the camp at least one day before. “We have made everything so smooth for them that they need to arrive here only 14 hours before,” said Mr. Bapu Musliar.
Indian Union Muslim League State president Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal inaugurated the Haj camp. Abdussamad Samadani, MLA; K. Mohammedunni Haji, MLA; and District Collector M.C. Mohandas spoke on the occasion. Haj committee member C.P. Kunhi Mohammed welcomed the gathering.
The pilgrims from Kerala are to be flown to Jeddah, and the return will be from Madina. The pilgrims will be leaving Karipur in ‘Ihram’, a sacred state compulsory for Haj and Umra. Male pilgrims enter into ‘Ihram’ by wearing two seamless sheets of clothes. Women wear purdah when they enter into ‘Ihram’.
The inaugural Haj flight, under the government supervision, will take off from Karipur Airport on Saturday morning. Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed will flag off the flight at 9 a.m.
Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 32 flights to carry 9,000-odd pilgrims from Kerala, Lakshadweep and Mahe to Jeddah. There will be two flights on the inaugural day. The airline will operate two flights each on October 7, 16, and 19.
Three flights will be operated on October 8, 9, 11, 18 and 20 and one flight each on October 10, 12, 14, 15, and 17. On October 13, four flights will be operated.
The return of the pilgrims will start from November 16. The airline will fly 32 services within 13 days to bring back all Hajis from the State.
Quota
Mr. Bapu Musliar reiterated his demand that the Haj quota for the States should be fixed on the basis of the number of applications and not on the basis of the State’s population.
Kerala, though not high in population, has the highest number of applicants for Haj in the country. Kerala has the largest waitlist of nearly 41,000 Haj aspirants this year. “This is a massive number compared to the waitlist of any other State. Therefore, our demand for Haj quota allocation on the basis of the number of applicants is just and fair,” he said.

·  E. Ahamed will flag off the flight
·  Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 32 flights

Passengers had no complaints: AI


Flights to various destinations in West Asia from the State had to be cancelled due to reasons beyond the control of the management, according to an affidavit filed by Air India (AI) before the Kerala High Court.
The affidavit was filed in response to a writ moved by the Centre for Non-resident Indians and Returnees (CNIR) against cancellation of flights. In the affidavit, Air India said that if flights were cancelled on account of reasons beyond the control of its management, passengers would be informed about flight cancellations. The passengers of the cancelled flights would be provided transportation facilities by road or hotel accommodation without any additional charge or ticket rebooked for another date or refunded the fares or provided alternative flights to their destinations.
In fact, four flights from Kozhikode, six from Thiruvananthapuram, and one from Kochi had to be cancelled from September 17 to 28 due to reasons beyond the control of the management. In fact, passengers were provided alternative flights to their destinations or rebooked tickets for another date without any additional charge or provided hotel accommodation. No passnger had raised any complaint regarding flight cancellations. All had accepted the offer of the airline. The cancel led flight had resumed its operation from September 29.
According to the petitioner, passengers to various destinations of West Asia had to face severe hardships because of immediate cancellations of flights without prior notice.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/passengers-had-no-complaints-ai/article3971059.ece

Mangalore will gain from new status for airport: Moily


The decision to declare Mangalore airport an international airport will benefit the region, according to Union Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily.
In a press release here on Friday, Moily said Mangalore is the gateway to Karnataka. It has the potential to develop as an important commercial centre next to Mumbai on the West coast. He said that taking advantage of the presence of a major port in the city, a number of industries are situated in Mangalore.
He said educational institutions in the region had attracted the attention of the world, and the region has developed as a hub of excellence.
“Mangalore airport has been functioning since 1951 and deserves to be declared an international airport,” Moily said.
Currently, Mangalore airport has the facilities to handle 400 passengers in the domestic arrival hall and 150 passengers in the international hall.
The October 4 meeting of the Union Cabinet had approved the proposal for declaring Mangalore an international airport along with four other airports.

False ceiling falls at Lucknow airport terminal


A portion of the false ceiling at the recently inaugurated new terminal of Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport fell apart on Friday. No one was hurt in the incident, but it caused considerable panic at the airport, officials said.
The affected portion of the false ceiling was just above the boarding area. The airport administration immediately removed the ceiling debris from the scene of the accident.
The airport was given international status by the Cabinet on October 4. The new terminal at the airport was inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on May 19.
The building has departure and arrival ports on the ground level. The new terminal has six check-in counters but from day one, it has been mired in controversies over sub-standard construction.
The report submitted by the enquiry officer has prima facie substantiated various defects in the construction quality, design and maintenance of the Lucknow airport terminal, officials have admitted. This included water leakage.

Flying Lufthansa? Get ready to surf the Web


Bored watching in-flight movies? Now, you can surf the Net, send and receive e-mails (even with large files attached) as you fly Lufthansa, to or from India.
The German airline is offering high-speed onboard internet called FlyNet, which enables passengers with a WLAN-enabled laptop or smartphone unlimited access to the Web.
Passengers can also use the iPad to connect to the internet through a hotspot, just as they would do at any public hotspot on the ground.
The airline said users will be automatically connected to the free-of-charge FlyNet portal, which provides constant updates on business, politics, sports and entertainment. A satellite links the aircraft to the Web, the airline said in a statement. It has come up with various billing options for internet usage, including €10.95 or 3,500 miles for one hour or €19.95 or 7,000 miles for 24-hour access.
The service is available on the Delhi-Munich, Mumbai-Frankfurt, Mumbai-Munich and Chennai-Frankfurt routes.
In addition to WLAN, data communication using the GSM and GPRS international cell phone standards will also be made available by year-end, it said. The options will include cell phone text messaging and data transfer with smart phones such as the iPhone or Blackberry.
Meanwhile, the Dubai-based Emirates too is helping passengers connect to their loved ones if they fly its Airbus-380 airliner. The link-up could be either via phone calls or a mobile data link on their personal devices. The service is being offered in partnership with OnAir.
But, the service will not be available in India as the Government has yet to allow any international airline to operate the A380 into the country.

Kingfisher gets DGCA notice; faces licence cancellation


Kingfisher Airlines has been issued a show-cause notice as to why its licence should not be cancelled/suspended as it has failed to establish a “safe, efficient and reliable service”.
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, which issued the notice, has given the airline 15 days to reply. The Government statement said that legal opinion was taken before sending the notice.
The airline has suspended all operations since October 1 as employees struck work protesting non-payment of wages. The DGCA show-cause came hours after the airline sent a statement that it has pushed back its plans of resuming flights till October 12. At an October 2 meeting in Delhi, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Aggarwal had said that operations will resume by October 4-5.
‘Humanitarian’ Funds
The airline’s statement pushing back the start of flights came after banks agreed to release Rs 60 crore so that it can pay its employees.
Speaking to newspersons on Friday, SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said that 80 per cent of the amount released by the tax authorities will be given back to the airline by banks specifically for paying salaries.
“Of the Rs 60 crore released by the tax authorities which had impounded the money, we will release Rs 40 crore for payment of salaries looking at the humanitarian crisis that non-payment of salaries has caused. I don’t know how adequate that will be,” he said.
However, Chaudhuri ruled out giving further loans to the carrier. “There are no assets to hypothecate. So there is no room for more debt.”
The banks’ decision to release funds will come too late for at least one family of the over 4,000 employees of the airline. On Thursday, the wife of a Kingfisher staffer committed suicide blaming the financial problems that the family was facing as her husband had not been paid wages for the past five months.
Shocked at the incident, the employees in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore held protests. In Delhi, employees of the airline organised a candlelight rally.