On Monday, there may not be a perceptible impact on flight schedules as management pilots are expected to continue their support to the airline. Besides, as the airline has continued to shrink its network, the pilot requirement is at an all-time low. For instance, from Monday, the airline will discontinue its daily Mumbai-Hong Kong flights.
"The airline operated this flight with an A330 aircraft. It apparently plans to restart the flights from April 4, although it does not seem likely,'' a source said. Moreover, Kingfisher's current flight schedule will continue only for two weeks as the carrier, as also other airlines, will have to switch to their summer schedule by the end of this month.
Despite these factors, if the pilots stick to their stand, the airline will be hard-pressed to find cockpit crew as flying duties come with prescribed time limits and management pilots cannot be rostered each time to cover up for the absentee crew. An email query sent to Kingfisher spokesperson remained unanswered.
What remains to be seen is how many pilots stick to their stand and for how long. The letter sent to Mallya had a stern tone, though. "A meeting was held on March 1 with the CEO, Sanjay Aggarwal, where a number of pilots had expressed their concern and were hoping to get some kind of confirmation on the salaries due to them,'' the letter said. "The conclusion of the meeting proved to be non-committal and there seemed to be no concrete answers. Consequently, a pilots' meeting was held on March 3 where it was decided that the pilots could not continue in this manner with no assurances, and have in majority decided that should no salaries be paid before March 12, the pilots would not be in a position to continue flying. We also request that at some point before March 12, you would be able to address the pilots in a meeting at a time suitable to you.''
In the last three months, the airline has been flying from one problem to another. Two days ago, International Air Transport Association barred Kingfisher from the billing and cargo settlement systems.
KFA pilots seek meet with Mallya
If Kingfisher Airlines pilots stick to their stand on not flying if their salary and dues are not cleared within 48 hours, the airline will be hard-pressed to find cockpit crew as flying duties come with prescribed time limits. Management pilots cannot be rostered each time to cover up for the absentee crew. An email query sent to Kingfisher spokesperson remained unanswered.
What remains to be seen is how many pilots stick to their stand and for how long. The letter sent to Mallya had a stern tone, though. "A meeting was held on March 1 with the CEO, Sanjay Aggarwal, where a number of pilots had expressed their concern and were hoping to get some kind of confirmation on the salaries due to them,'' the letter said. "The conclusion of the meeting proved to be non-committal and there seemed to be no concrete answers. Consequently, a pilots' meeting was held on March 3 where it was decided that the pilots could not continue in this manner with no assurances, and have in majority decided that should no salaries be paid before March 12, the pilots would not be in a position to continue flying. We also request that at some point before March 12, you would be able to address the pilots in a meeting at a time suitable to you.''
In the last three months, the airline has been flying from one problem to another. Two days ago, International Air Transport Association barred Kingfisher from the billing and cargo settlement systems.
