TNI Bureau: Financial crisis driven Kingfisher Airlines last night declared a partial lock-out with immediate effect and suspended flight operations till 4th October. As many as 50 flights were cancelled with pilots joining the striking engineers to protest the non-payment of salaries for the last six months.
In a statement, private carrier said it has been forced to declare a partial lock-out following a series of protracted and unabated incidents of violence, criminal intimidation, assault, wrongful restraint and other illegal acts including refraining from attending work, by a small section of employees.
Pushed into a corner by a string of troubles, Vijay Mallya, chairman of Kingfisher Airlines said, “The partial lockout was necessitated because of the intolerable violent behavior by a section of the staff against all those who want to work.”
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The decision came hours before the Kingfisher top management was scheduled to meet aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday despite it being a national holiday on account of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said, “The DGCA has called the Kingfisher management on Tuesday as the matter is now grave. DGCA will seek an update from the airline on whether it is genuinely feasible to continue.”
Meanwhile, Kingfisher shares slumped 4.78 per cent in the Mumbai stock exchange soon after the opening of trade to touch the lower circuit limit of Rs.15.35 on the BSE.
In this juncture, how billionaire Mallya, could continue to operate Kingfisher Airlines is remain to see.