Air India crew members go on indefinite strike over non-payment of salaries

Upset over non-payment of flying allowances for the last six months, a section of Air India cabin crew members has called for an indefinite strike from today.

Turning down flying duty, 100 crew members have not registered their attendance in office today, reports said.

Meanwhile, Air India pilots have also threatened to go on strike from April 1 over non-payment of salaries and other allowances for the past four months.

In a letter to the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sent on March 6, the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) said the pilots would not operate flights till their dues were cleared.

While the pilots accepted that Air India was in financial distress, they did not want to endanger the lives of the passengers.

IATA: Turbulent times ahead for Indian aviation sector

The Indian aviation industry may not do well this year in the absence of any major structural changes, pex body for the global airline industry IATA's Director General Tony Tyler said here on Today.

"I don't see this year is going to be any easier for Indian carriers than last year. Fuel prices have risen. And there have not been any major structural changes in the industry which will help to offset that particular cost penalty," Tyler of International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a press conference.

He said it was necessary to suspend Kingfisher Airlines from its clearing house to protect the system.

"The difficulties of Kingfisher are well known...We had to suspend Kingfisher from the travel agency clearing house. We think it is necessary to protect the whole system. It is the system we operate on behalf of hundreds of airlines. We are now discussing with Kingfisher the term on which we can reinstate the programs. The discussions are continuing" the
IATA chief said.

IATA had to suspend Kingfisher after it failed to provide IATA with a cash deposit, required to continue its participation in the BSP and the CASS.

The required cash deposit was intended to ensure the airline is able to meet its financial obligations in the BSP and the CASS, an IATA spokesperson earlier said in a statement
from Singapore.

Tyler also said that the high User Development Charges at airports in Delhi and Mumbai should be relooked by the Government in order to stop further damage to local and international airlines connectivity and foreign tourist arrivals.

"AERA proposed 340 per cent of increase in the UDF at Delhi airport. If it materialises, Delhi will become the most expansive airport. India's aviation industry is sick. Adding a USD 300 million headache to it will pull it in intensive care from a cost perspective," Tyler said.

He added that it is also estimated that a 5-7 per cent decrease in demand will result from the move.

"...it will come with a fall in tourist arrivals and further damage to local and international airline connectivity," the IATA chief said.

He added IATA is also concerned about the application of 10.3 per cent service tax on air tickets as well as to service that airlines purchase like landing and air navigation fees.

KFA management will meet lenders' consortium by SBI today

Kingfisher Airlines’ (KFA) management will meet their lenders' consortium led by the State Bank of India (SBI) today to convince them to put additional capital in the troubled airline.

SBI, the lead consortium lender to the carrier however told a news channel that KFA would need to arrange fresh equity of Rs 1,000-2,000 crore before seeking additional funds from banks.

Citing Top civil aviation ministry sources, the Channel said that two of Kingfisher ATR aircraft were seized by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and handed over to the leasing company after the lessors complained to the airline regulator.

KFA has been in financial mess and the loans given by banks have turned NPA (non-performing asset) for the past couple of months.

The company's net loss widened to Rs 444.26 crore for the quarter ended December 31, due to high fuel costs and weaker rupee, from Rs 253.69 crore in the October-December quarter of last fiscal.

The airlines suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11.

Kingfisher to come up with revised schedule today;

Kingfisher Airlines will file a new flight schedule before the DGCA today.

KFA was yesterday given a 24-hour deadline to come up with a "realistic" flight schedule by the DGCA which ruled out any immediate punitive action to avert further difficulties to air travellers even as the carrier scrapped 40 more flights.

"The airlines will have to file a new schedule instead of a truncated one in the next 24 hours," DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan told reporters after the regulator quizzed Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal and top officials on how they plan to get the crisis-ridden airlines back on track.

The cash-strapped carrier, facing the wrath of Income Tax authorities which have frozen its bank accounts, was operating only 28 of its 64 planes, leading to large-scale disruption of its schedule for the fifth consecutive day.

At least 40 flights were cancelled across its national network yesterday.

"To be on the safer side, we have decided to go for safety surveillance of all of their operating aircraft," said Bhushan.

Asked whether DGCA was contemplating cracking the whip on Kingfisher, he said, “let us not talk of punitive action at the moment. We are more interested to see the airline back on its feet. Our priority is not to punish ... because of the immediate difficulties the travelling public will have to face."

A day after he ruled out any Government bailout for Kingfisher, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said Government will have to hear them out.

"We have to hear them out. We don't know what their plans are, how they are going to restore normalcy. Then there are safety issues which they have to answer," he said.

Under Rule 140(A) of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, airlines need prior approval of DGCA to curtail their flight schedules. Any violation can amount to cancellation of the flight permit of an airline, as an extreme measure.

After the two-hour meeting with Aggarwal and the airlines executive vice president Hitesh Patel, Bhushan said the DGCA, which had summoned them to explain the large-scale disruption in operations and the reasons for it, also wanted know why payment of salaries has been delayed.
Kingfisher to submit revised schedule today

Kingfisher crisis, flights cancelled for third day

Kingfisher Airlines operations continued to be disrupted for the third consecutive day with around 14 flights cancelled today, a day after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took a serious note of the developments and asked the airline CEO to appear before them on Tuesday, an airport official said.

Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) officials, despite repeated attempts, declined to confirm or deny the developments. Instead, they repeatedly said that "we shall issue a statement when required" and refused to comment on the potential action by the DGCA.

The cancellations have affected incoming or outbound flights in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

The abrupt flight cancellations had created major problems for passengers waiting to travel after having booked their tickets months in advance, an official at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport said.

However, Sunday, the beleaguered carrier reeling under financial losses had claimed that despite flight disruptions since the past couple of days, it has not shut down any stations from its schedules, an official said.

The developments have also worried passengers intending to travel on KFA flights in the next few days or weeks.

"Last minute cancellations jeopardize our travel and onward plans, while other carriers charge heavily for the same sector if we try to cancel and make alternate bookings," said A.A. Kinariwalla, a manager with a multinational in Mumbai, who is a frequent flier on domestic and international sectors.

The flight disruptions are expected to continue for another three to four days with only 208 flights in operations, but the carrier has not shut down nor does it plan to close down any stations, the official said.

While admitting that its bank accounts have been attached by the Income Tax Department, KFA said in the past also similar issues have happened and they have been resolved.

The developments come after high fuel costs and falling revenue resulted in KFA losses in the third quarter of the current fiscal mounting to Rs 444 crore from a net loss of Rs.254 crore suffered in the like quarter of 2010-11.

"The speculation that we are reducing our operating schedule from 240 flights a day are ill-founded, as we will operate the full schedule on our booking system within the next four days," the spokesperson added.

He added, "We have had a good meeting with our consortium of Banks who have accepted, in principle, the viability study prepared by SBI Capital markets and independent consultants. Our request for additional working capital has been acknowledged by the consortium and is subject to individual bank approvals".