'KF needs to come up with survival plan by Oct 20'

With no end in sight to the ongoing impasse at Kingfisher Airlines between the management and the staff, the Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told MiD DAY that the fate of the beleaguered carrier now depended on the reply it gave in regards to the show cause notice that was presented by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Grounded: Travellers will be forced to suffer more as talks between management and staff failed yet again and services will remain suspended till October 20. File pic

Singh added that the airline had not presented any foolproof plan to help rescue the airline from its drowning situation. "Earlier the Kingfisher employees were hopeful, but now they are a disgruntled lot due to long pending salaries. From a safety aspect, it is not practical for us to allow the operations of Kingfisher airline till the impasse ends."

When asked how long the aviation ministry would tolerate the airline's attitude, Singh made it very clear that this was the last chance for the ailing carrier to come up with a plan to help it survive.

"Due to the ongoing impasse which is creating problems for the travellers and raising questions on safety issues, the DGCA has served a show-cause notice to Kingfisher.

The fate of Kingfisher now depends upon its reply to DGCA. If it wants to operate, it will have to come up with a foolproof plan before the DGCA before the deadline of show-cause notice ends," Singh further quipped.

Earlier on October 5, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to Kingfisher airline citing abrupt cancellation of flights in the last ten months causing inconvenience to the public.

The show-cause notice further pointed out that Kingfisher had failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable services as required and hereby called upon for a show-cause as to why action for the aforesaid violation should not be taken against the airline.

The deadline for the so-cause notice reply ends on October 20.

Talks fail again
Talks yesterday between striking staff and the management of India's troubled Kingfisher Airlines failed to reach an agreement to re-start flights, the chief executive said.

A group of Kingfisher pilots along with engineers had a marathon meeting with management at the Ballard Estate office of the UB group. The management requested the employees to call off industrial action and report to work, as the existence of the airline was at stake. Employees were also offered one month's pay to return to work, but they declined asking for dispersal of four months salary to end the impasse.u00a0