Mumbai: Facing the real possibility of a shut down, cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines will make one last attempt to convince its 4000 employees to return back to work on Monday. The management is slated to hold talks with them in Mumbai. This comes three days after the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended its licence - putting the airline in further jeopardy.
The employees have been seeking payments of all pending dues - they haven't been paid for seven months. But the management has so far offered just a month's salary. Sources said that if talks fail on Monday, striking employees will launch a nationwide protest and try and confront Chairman Vijay Mallaya at the F1 track in Greater Noida, where the races begin on October 26.
"We will hold a meeting with the management tomorrow (Monday) in Mumbai. We also want the airline to start operations and to become viable again," a senior official who is on strike said in New Delhi. "We will consider any offer presented by the airline which is logical and meets the minimum criteria of our demands," the official added. Nearly, 6,500 employees of the airline face the possibility of losing their jobs if the airline continues to be in a state of lockout, which has been extended till October 23. The average monthly wage bill of the airline is said to be around Rs 21 crore.
The DGCA had issued show-cause notice on October 5, to the liquor baron Vijay
08:38 AM, Oct 22, 2012
