Majority Of Employees Accepted Salary Proposal, Will Join Duty Oct 26: Kingfisher Management

Most of the employees of Kingfisher Airlines have accepted the salary proposal by the management and agreed to resume work Oct.26, claims airline’s Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Aggarwal.

In an email sent to individual employees, Aggarwal said that the airline would pay the October salaries to all employees before Christmas.

Aggarwal said: “I am pleased to share that most of our fellow pilots and engineering team members have accepted our proposal and will be resuming duty on October 26, 2012. As a goodwill gesture, we have agreed to pay full October salary to all employees, without exception and we commit to paying the same prior to Christmas, 2012,’’ PTI reported.

However, it is not clear whether the airline, succumbing to the pressure, has agreed to pay all the salary arrears by December end. When contacted by PTI, Aggarwal refused to divulge the source of the cash flow for the airline to manage the salary payment.

On Monday, the employees of the debt-laden airline rejected the management’s proposal of paying three months salary arrears before the Diwali festival and the rest of dues in a staggered schedule.

In his email, Aggarwal has claimed that most of the employees have accepted the proposal and sent their confirmation letters to join duty Oct.26. “We request the rest of you to send your acceptance at the earliest," he wrote, according to the PTI.

The liquor baron Vijay Mallya-controlled airline has grounded all its flights since Oct.1. Its flying license was cancelled Saturday as it failed to give a satisfactory reply to a show cause notice issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The company Tuesday said it was extending the lockout till Oct.26, as it had failed to convince the striking employees to resume work. It has not paid the salaries since March and defaulted on its payments to lenders and venders.

Kingfisher Airlines, with debt and loss of over 160 billion rupees, has failed to raise fresh capital so far despite the government announcing 49 percent FDI in the aviation sector.

Meanwhile, Vijay Mallya, who was accused of being impassionate to the woes of his employees and for not being available during the time of crisis, Tuesday tweeted that he was not absconding. “I travel 24x7 where my multiple work responsibilities take me. Sections of media call me an absconder because I don't talk to them,” he tweeted Tuesday.