Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Jan 17, 2013 To ensure that Kingfisher continues its operations without being interrupted by demands and strikes for salaries it refuses to pay, AerospaceDiary learns that DGCA has asked the airliner to give it assurance that the staff will work without disruption before it gets its AOP. KFA has been asked to give this assurance (you could call it an NOC from employees!)  by Jan 28 to the DGCA. If it is unable to do this, it cannot fly in the summer either. A staffer AerospaceDiary spoke to says the mood is livid and it is highly unlikely employees will agree to anything until salaries are paid first.  Hardly a surprise as half of them will lose their jobs anyway given the restructuring plan of KFA includes just seven planes to start with! But with KFA, one never really knows whats cooking.. However, this must be a tough one for Kingfisher, used to having people work without salaries!  

Neelam Mathews Oct 23, 2012 As Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of Kingfisher Airlines bravely battled his way through through a barage of tough questions yesterday from journalists and staff during the day,one couldn't but help admire his fortitude, given that his boss is in hiding. There are many in the industry who say this effort by the airline is primarily, to stop employees creating a rukkus outside the Formula One race track in Greater Noida as they have threatened to do, to embarrass the Force India team owner, Vijay Mallya. Or else, how come the management, that has been so cagey with the buck, suddenly comes up with an offer for one month's salary and upped it to three months within hours? Also, call it intuition, but I am seeing a chasm developing between the engineers on their decision to go back to work. Any guesses? Lets not forget, the airline needs engineers and pilots to run just 5-7 planes. And when Agarwal said at the press conference there were just 1500 people...

Neelam Mathews Oct 14, 2012 When Ernest Hemingway helped to make the phrase 'For Whom the Bells Toll," commonplace in his 1940-published book, he would never have envisaged how relevant it would be in the second decade of the 21st  century. Now, on the verge of extinction and with the impending shadow of arrest hovering over  Vijay Mallya and his top management, PTI reports, have now called for a meeting on Monday Oct 15, with engineers and pilots- labelled criminals not so long ago- to offer part payment of dues for two to three months (of the seven and a half months owed!).  What is it about this company that takes its staff so much for granted, the world is asking. It is apparent they just don't care anymore. Will the government now stop looking the other way? What use, we query, is an airline that is incapable of flying, not be let loose? Why not let another carrier with a solid business plan be allowed to start?  Why should Kingfisher...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  OCTOBER 8, 2012 by    NEELAM MATHEWS India’s Kingfisher Airlines has suspended operations at least through October 12 after failing to reach agreement with striking staff over seven months of unpaid wages. October 8, 2012, 10:50 AM After failing to reach an agreement with striking engineers and pilots who have not been paid since March this year, India’s Kingfisher Airlines has effectively grounded itself until at least October 12 by locking out staff. Kingfisher’s management, led by owner Vijay Mallya, is trying to renegotiate some $2.49 billion in debt with creditors while it struggles with serious cash-flow problems, evidenced by $1.9 billion in losses for the first half of this year. Kingfisher stopped flying on October 1 after its own engineers refused to certify the safety of its operation.  CEO  Sanjay Aggarwal spent much of last week trying in vain to persuade staff to ...

Neelam Mathews Oct 1, 2012 Just an update on my earlier post for those of our readers looking at travelling on Kingfisher. We hear all AMEs are on strike. Pilots too, have joined them. Mumbai airport terminal, where Kingfisher shares space with Air India,  is totally abandoned and wears a forlorn look. Even flights that had 75% load factors have been cancelled. As the management tries to rustle up engineers to operate some 14-15 flights, a staff member told us: “Nero fiddles while Rome burns......Mr Mallya is in France and the CEO is on vacation from Friday till Monday.” Source-Carnage and Culture

Neelam Mathews Sept 8, 2012 Even as the proposal for two subsidiary units for Air India—Air India Engineering Services and Air India Transport- one for engineering and another other for ground handling, has been cleared by the Cabinet, we might just be entering into the realm of a known subject- strikes. About 40 percent of Air India employees (12,000) will  be transferred to Air India Transport with an authorised capital of Rs 1,000 crore . One isn’t sure about the engineering unit. What is clear is that this will not go down well with the erstwhile Indian Airlines engineering team who have time and again said they have been given a step motherly treatment after the merger. Air India management has turned a blind eye and deaf ears to this issue. Nothing has been done for five years since the merger to address the insecurities  of engineers (nor pilots) as “technical issues are still to be sorted out". Concerns relate to salary scales, allowances and care...

Neelam Mathews June 5, 2012 Kingfisher Airlines pilots are planning to demand their salaries that backdate to four months. "If we do not get our pay by this Friday, we will ground the airline,” warns a pilot. Even as we pen this, the unions are in a closed door meeting, Aerospace Diary learns. It remains to be seen what crumbs are handed to them by the management and how far they will be satisfied. In mid may when the pilots threatened to go on strike, it ended up with a drink at the house of the founder Vijay Mallya who is said to have charmed them out of their intent. How many times can one cry wolf, is to seen. Safety experts have shown concern that demotivated pilots and a depressed maintenance crew could lead to slipups that could be fatal.

Neelam Mathews March 1, 2012 Kingfisher Airlines technicians at Delhi airport (could not be confirmed for the rest of India) have been on strike since late night of Feb 29, Aerospace Diary learns.the promised salary cheques haven't arrived as yet. While their work at the moment is being done by others, it is not clear how long this will last and whether flights will land at all at Delhi International Airport. MRO service technicians perform routine and scheduled maintenance on aircraft engines, air conditioning systems, brakes, cockpit instruments, valves and other components. They replace worn-out or defective parts and rebuild engines. Additionally, they maintain service records and perform aircraft inspections.

Neelam Mathews Feb 2, 2012 Following a call for strike action from 6 to 9 February, Air France is doing all it can to limit the impact of this unions’ strike on its operations, says a statement. A ir France says it will directly inform its customers i n case of cancellations, delays by telephone, text message or e-mail.  This service is free of charge and is available to all passengers worldwide. The confidential information will only be used to inform them in case of disruption.