TManagement has agreed to release four months’ salary as against its earlier stand of releasing only three months’ salary, claims a pilot.
The city-based pilots, engineers and other staff of Kingfisher Airlines on Thursday joined their colleagues from other metros in calling off the 26-day strike.
The airline employees said they would report to work from Friday onwards. The management has promised them four of the seven months’ salary dues, to be paid by the end of December.
A pilot said that as the management has agreed to their demand to release four months’ salary, as against their earlier stand that they would pay only three months’ backlog, they thought that this was the best option available.
The management and the employees had come to an agreement that the March salary would be paid within 24 hours, April salary by October end, May salary before Diwali (November 13) and June salary by December end.
“If we have to get our dues released, we have to trust them. We would be returning to work from tomorrow,” said another pilot. Meanwhile, Kingfisher Airlines said that all employees are now eagerly looking forward to working together in order to re-starting operations very soon.
“We will now finalise and present our resumption plan to the DGCA and hope to get their concurrence soon,” the airline said in a statement.
Four weeks needed
Though the airline management has been able to end the stalemate with its employees, the cash strapped organisation still has a long way before it starts operations.
According to the staff the resumption of flights may take at least three to four weeks. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had on October 20 suspended its scheduled operator’s permit and said that the airline would have to submit a concrete and reliable revival plan to its satisfaction, before it resumes operations. This apart, the airline would also have to settle its dues to the Airport Authority of India (AAI), oil companies and its lessors.
The airline owes about `250 crore to the AAI. The latter is said to have communicated that it would not allow the Kingfisher aircraft to operate from its airports, if its dues are not cleared.
Prior to its lock out on October 1, the airline was operating 10 aircraft, which are currently stationed in various airports across the country.
The airline has also suspended operations and closed forward bookings till November 6.
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