Perspective- Lockout of Unpaid Staff Grounds India’s 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 ...
