KFA management to make last attempt to convince staff to return to work

Two days after aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the flying licence of Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), the cash-strapped carrier will make a last attempt to convince its 4000 striking employees to return to work on Monday.

It is believed that the KFA management is slated to meet the staff in Mumbai on Monday to find a solution to the 20-day strike that entirely crippled its operations.

The debt-ridden airline is facing a salary backlog of seven months and the employees have been seeking payments of all pending dues.

If talks fail on Monday, striking employees will launch a nationwide protest and try and confront Chairman Vijay Mallya at the F1 track in Greater Noida, where the races begin on October 26, said sources.

The average monthly wage bill of the airline is said to be around Rs 21 crore. The employees went on a flash strike October 1 demanding payment of their salaries by October 5, which have been pending since March.

The airline had the lowest market share in September, which stood at 3.5 percent. The airline has a total debt of Rs 7,000 crore from a consortium of banks.

Also, bankers are scheduled to hold a meeting Monday to decide on the fate of their exposure to Kingfisher Airlines. If they decide on writing off bad debt owed by the airline, it may have a negative impact on their quarterly performance and will also affect the scrip price in the equities market.