Kingfisher Airlines will settle the pending wages of its employees and plans to restart operations soon, airline promoter Vijay Mallya has said.
The airline, which ceased operations on October 1 last year, has not paid employees’ wages for the last 10 months. Its operating licence lapsed on December 31 last year.
At a late night meeting here on Thursday, Mallya said he was committed to paying back the wages as soon as funds start flowing in from the Diageo-deal. Earlier this year, Diaego had agreed to purchase a 53.4 per cent stake in Mallya-led UB Group at an estimated cost of over Rs 11,000 crore.
The meeting was held a day after a section of employees held a protest at Delhi airport demanding payment of pending wages and sought the intervention of the Government to settle their outstanding dues.
Kingfisher employees also threatened to hold protests at venues where IPL cricket matches are to be played in case their dues were not settled. Mallya is the owner of a team which will be playing the IPL matches.
In April and October last year, the airline had promised to settle the pending wages of employees. However, only some of them were paid.
Revival plan
During yesterday’s meeting, Mallya had claimed that he would be meeting with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation soon to submit a revival plan for the airline.
Kingfisher is saddled with a loss of Rs 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another over Rs 7,000 crore.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has made it clear to the airline that there is no question of even looking at the revival plan till the employees’ wages are settled.
The DGCA has indicated that the airline will have to get comfort letter from banks, income and service tax departments before a final call is taken on allowing the airline to restart operations.