Kingfisher Airlines is hoping to resume flights next week after it grounded all services due to an ongoing dispute with staff.
The financially struggling Indian carrier said on Monday that it was suspending all flights for at least three days (see online news October 1) as the company tries to reach a settlement with employees who have not been paid fully for six months.
Sanjay Bahadur, Kingfisher’s vice president of corporate affairs, told reporters in India today that the airline now expected to resume flights within “four or five days” after 100 workers in Delhi agreed to come back to work.
India’s aviation regulator has said that Kingfisher would only get official approval to resume flights if it paid its workers and came up with an “acceptable recovery plan”.
Kingfisher has already axed its international network (see online news March 14), including services from Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai, as it struggles to manage its debts.
Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher’s chairman, last week revealed that he was in talks with unnamed foreign airlines on potentially taking a stake in Kingfisher following a change in policy by the Indian government to allow overseas investment in its airlines.
For more information visit flykingfisher.com.
Report by Rob Gill
