Kingfisher to come up with revised schedule today

The 24-hour deadline set by aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), for Kingfisher Airlines to come up with a realistic flight schedule ends today..The DGCA held a meeting with the Kingfisher Airlines CEO Sanjay Aggarwal yesterday where it gave a stern message to the airline that it can't compromise on safety as it pulled up the beleaguered airline today following large-scale flight disruptions. The aviation regulator, however, ruled out any immediate punitive action to avert further difficulties to air travellers even as the carrier scrapped 40 more flights..The DGCA also categorically told the ailing airline that cutting costs did not translate into playing around with the safety of the passengers. The stiff warning came after the private carrier cancelled a large number of flights over the weekend that has spilled onto the new week. It also witnessed resignations of at least 34 pilots on Tuesday, with several other staff members being put on notice. The airline, though, assured the DGCA that it had enough cabin crew and pilots to manage its flights. The regulator, meanwhile, has decided to go for "safety surveillance" of all of Kingfisher's operating aircraft but assured that there is no cause for concern and passengers need not be worried.."We had called them for a meeting in view of the reports of the large-scale flight disruptions. They have a plan but before that I have told them the difficulties passengers are going through have to be minimised. There are a lot of unscheduled cancellations; there are difficulties in obtaining refund. We have told them in very strict terms that this has to be kept to the minimum if not eliminated. Second, on the subject of safety, because of the large cutback, we want to make sure that there is no compromise on safety. So we will be especially looking at that also," E K Bharat Bhushan, the chief of the DGCA, told NDTV..The airline was also given time till Wednesday to come up with a "realistic" flight schedule for its operating aircraft. "The airlines will have to file a new schedule instead of a truncated one in the next 24 hours," Mr Bhushan said..Out of Kingfisher's 64 aircraft, 28 are operational. Yesterday, at least 34 Kingfisher flights - six from Delhi, five from Mumbai, 18 from Bangalore and five from Hyderabad - were cancelled. On Monday, the airline cancelled 30 flights; half of its flights from major metros were cancelled or delayed on Sunday. Internationally, flight operations to Bangkok, Dhaka and Kathmandu have been shut. Colombo, sources say, will be shut down shortly. Of all Kingfisher Airlines international services, only the London flight is presently operating..Kingfisher was asked to explain why flights have been cancelled since Saturday without informing the DGCA. Mr Bhushan said the airline had not shared enough information with passengers, causing unacceptable inconvenience..Kingfisher also assured the regulator that the issue of non-payment of salaries would be sorted out soon. The matter has reportedly effected the resignations of its pilots. In fact, Kingfisher has closed down its Kolkata operations because the staff there had not been paid salaries for months. "They assured that the arrears would be paid...I have now been assured that the December salaries will be cleared by February and January by March," Mr Bhushan said. The DGCA also asked the government to review the acceptability of this step..Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, meanwhile, told reporters, "We have to hear out Kingfisher. We don't know what their plans are, how they are going to restore normal schedule. Then there are safety issues which they have to answer." He also said that in any industry closure of one unit creates trouble for the entire industry and added that steps have to be taken to see that Kingfisher restores its flight schedule and passengers are not inconvenienced..Under fire for the massive flight disruptions, Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya had apologized to inconvenienced fliers. Speaking to NDTV, the airline baron attributed the chaos to a sudden freezing of the carrier's properties by the Income Tax department.."We tried to reach as many as possible, we tried to make alternative bookings, refunds," Mr Mallya told NDTV..But Mr Mallya insisted that he will not shut down the private carrier, which is struggling to stay afloat following the large-scale flight disruptions..Mr Mallya's clarification came after Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh ruled out bailout for Kingfisher as it is a private carrier..Explaining why the airline did not inform aviation regulator DGCA about flight cancellations, Mr Mallya said on Monday, "The I-T authorities very suddenly froze our bank accounts. The inevitable disruptions had to happen. There was no time or no chance to reach out either to the DGCA or perhaps adequately to our guests who were booked on our flights.".Kingfisher declared losses of 444 crore in the third quarter of this year - up from 254 crore a year ago. Kingfisher's current debt is close to 1.3 billion dollars or Rs. 7,057.08 crore. It has been lobbying hard with the government to allow foreign airlines to buy into Indian carriers, a proposal the government is now trying to push through as the country's biggest airlines show bleeding balance sheets. "We are in dialogue with the tax authorities. We have pointed out to them that this drastic action of freezing bank accounts causes huge public inconvenience. Apart from the fact that if our flights get disrupted on a continued basis, then our revenue gets affected," Mr Mallya added. .A group of 18 banks, led by the State of Bank of India (SBI), that have lent to Kingfisher met on Friday to discuss the carrier's financial state and sources said Kingfisher hoped the banks would provide it with some working capital soon. There is no official word from either the lending banks or the airline on this yet.

Kingfisher to come up with revised schedule today

This is a significant change of stance from the largest state-owned bank after the bank's chairman had publicly stated that SBI would not provide any additional relief as Kingfisher Airlines was classified as a non-performing asset.

NDTV Profit

NDTV Profit

Follow Us

DOWNLOAD THE APP