Beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines faced fresh trouble on Saturday with a section of pilots going on strike, demanding immediate payment of salaries for March. This resulted in the cancellation of 19 flights.
"Eight departures from Mumbai and an equal number of flights from other places to the city have been cancelled due to non-availability of pilots," a Mumbai International Airport official said. Kingfisher flights from Delhi to Dharamshala, Udaipur and Dehra Dun were also cancelled. A Kingfisher spokesperson did not respond to calls. In the second such action within a month, the pilots went on strike demanding release of salaries; this affected operations since morning.
The stir comes after a meeting here between a group of pilots and KFA Chief Executive Sanjay Aggarwal over the salary issue ended without any results, airline sources said. "About 15 pilots had gone to meet the CEO to enquire about the March salary since the pilots were promised by the management that every one would be paid by August 17. They were made to wait for an hour and half and then told the Chairman (Vijay Mallya) has said they will be paid by Tuesday," they said. The private airline, whose accounts are under Corporate Affairs Ministry's scanner, has not made payments to majority of its employees since March. The Ministry recently ordered an inspection of account books of the debt-ridden airline after receiving complaints from stakeholders alleging violation of certain provisions of company law.