Faced with large-scale employee unrest, Kingfisher Airlines in a statement said that the management has been “forced to declare a partial lock-out” at the airline till October 4.

The airline that operates less than 80 flights with seven aircraft cancelled all its flights across its network after sections of its engineers went on strike protesting against non-payment of wages for the past seven months.

An email from the CEO Sanjay Agarwal sent to the employees late last night said that “illegal actions”, including the strike has forced the airline to ground all its flight.

The airline said that it has more than sufficient number of staff to safely operate its current schedule of flights as per the holding plan.

“It is internally ascertained that despite the fact that a vast majority of the staff are willing to cooperate and support the company in these turbulent times, they are not able to and not being allowed to report to work on account of acts of criminal intimidation by the recalcitrant employees who have chosen to take law into their own hands, forcing a complete paralysis of operations,” the airline said.

The CEO of the cash-strapped airlines is expected to meet the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Tuesday.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh, warned that the company will not be allowed to fly if safety norms were flouted and clarified that no Kingfisher flights would take off till the engineers certified on the safety of aircraft.

>nivedita.ganguly@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics