Just paying staff not enough to start flying, Ajit tells KF
23 Jan 2013 5:35 AM IST
The government on Tuesday made it clear that grounded Kingfisher Airlines would not be allowed to fly till it cleared all its dues, including pending salaries of its employees. ‘Kingfisher cannot be allowed to fly without settling its dues. Just paying the employees is not sufficient... DGCA has said that all stakeholders need to be satisfied,’ said Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.
Kingfisher needs to obtain statements from creditors, including banks, airport operators and employees that they do not object to resumption of flights, he told reporters shortly after the airline’s CEO Sanjay Aggarwal met Civil Aviation Secretary K N Srivastava here to seek permission for resuming operations.
The Vijay Mallya-owned company ‘has no concrete funding plan. The bankers have to give go-ahead to restart the operations. The company needs at least Rs 1,000 crore to resume operations,’ said Singh, adding that the settlement of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) dues is ‘non-negotiable’.
He also said that the beleaguered carrier would have to prove its ability to raise funds. ‘They need to prove they’ve the ability to scale-up funds to sustain operations.’ However, Srivastava during his meeting with Aggarwal indicated that a decision on Kingfisher’s plea to resume operations could
be taken only after the grounded carrier paid its staff their salary dues.
Official sources said that Srivastava told Aggarwal that the issue of the airline’s dues to other vendors, including AAI, could be taken up later but the staffers have to be paid before it could get clearance to relaunch its operations. Salaries and allowances of Kingfisher employees, including pilots and engineers, have been pending for over eight months now.
Kingfisher’s flying licence (Scheduled Operator’s Permit) was suspended DGCA in October following flight disruptions caused by strikes triggered by unpaid salaries. Employees later agreed to resume work after the management pledged to pay salaries, most of which have remained unpaid till now.
PILOTS, ENGINEERS REMAIN FIRM ON WIND-UP PETITION
The Mumbai-based pilots of Kingfisher Airlines on Tuesday served it an ultimatum to clear their dues by January 31 or face another winding-up petition. The pilots gave the ultimatum at a meeting with top management representatives including chief executive Sanjay Agarwal.
Earlier, the Kingfisher Airlines engineers' association decided to go ahead with the winding up petition in the Delhi High Court, sources said. It will also send a legal notice to the airline management next week.
'We have decided to proceed with the winding-up petition in the Delhi high court as the management is keeping silent on the issues we raised, including payment of employees dues and details of recapitalisation plans,' said an association source.
Kingfisher needs to obtain statements from creditors, including banks, airport operators and employees that they do not object to resumption of flights, he told reporters shortly after the airline’s CEO Sanjay Aggarwal met Civil Aviation Secretary K N Srivastava here to seek permission for resuming operations.
The Vijay Mallya-owned company ‘has no concrete funding plan. The bankers have to give go-ahead to restart the operations. The company needs at least Rs 1,000 crore to resume operations,’ said Singh, adding that the settlement of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) dues is ‘non-negotiable’.
He also said that the beleaguered carrier would have to prove its ability to raise funds. ‘They need to prove they’ve the ability to scale-up funds to sustain operations.’ However, Srivastava during his meeting with Aggarwal indicated that a decision on Kingfisher’s plea to resume operations could
be taken only after the grounded carrier paid its staff their salary dues.
Official sources said that Srivastava told Aggarwal that the issue of the airline’s dues to other vendors, including AAI, could be taken up later but the staffers have to be paid before it could get clearance to relaunch its operations. Salaries and allowances of Kingfisher employees, including pilots and engineers, have been pending for over eight months now.
Kingfisher’s flying licence (Scheduled Operator’s Permit) was suspended DGCA in October following flight disruptions caused by strikes triggered by unpaid salaries. Employees later agreed to resume work after the management pledged to pay salaries, most of which have remained unpaid till now.
PILOTS, ENGINEERS REMAIN FIRM ON WIND-UP PETITION
The Mumbai-based pilots of Kingfisher Airlines on Tuesday served it an ultimatum to clear their dues by January 31 or face another winding-up petition. The pilots gave the ultimatum at a meeting with top management representatives including chief executive Sanjay Agarwal.
Earlier, the Kingfisher Airlines engineers' association decided to go ahead with the winding up petition in the Delhi High Court, sources said. It will also send a legal notice to the airline management next week.
'We have decided to proceed with the winding-up petition in the Delhi high court as the management is keeping silent on the issues we raised, including payment of employees dues and details of recapitalisation plans,' said an association source.
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