Says its aircraft were not being maintained or serviced since its engineers went on strike from September 29
The safety of passengers cannot be compromised at any cost and the crisis-ridden Kingfisher Airlines would not be allowed to take wings again till it satisfied the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on safe flight operations, besides ensuring that its employees were not harassed, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told journalists here on Saturday.
The DGCA suspended the licence of Kingfisher as its aircraft were not being maintained or serviced since its engineers went on strike from September 29, Mr. Singh said.
The DGCA had disapproved the flight schedule of the beleaguered airlines in the coming winter schedule, which begins on October 28 and goes on until March 31.
Heavy loss, debt burden
Asked about allotment of Kingfisher’s slot to other airlines, he said he presumed that these would be allotted to other carriers. The airline was saddled with a loss of Rs. 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another Rs. 7,524 crore-plus. It has only 10 operational aircraft now, compared to 66 a year ago.
The airlines said in a statement: “The actual position has not changed because of this order. We have maintained that once the issues with the employees are resolved, we will present our resumption plan to DGCA for review, before resuming operations. Notwithstanding the order, we had suspended operations and closed forward bookings till November 6, 2012. The management has already communicated to all stakeholders this very position. We are now immediately suspending all forward bookings …. It is our endeavour to restart operations at the earliest.”
Keywords: DGCA norms, Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher financial crisis, Kingfisher lock out, Ajit SIngh
Why is the number of air crafts reduced from 61 to 10 during the last one year? Some one sold the remaining 51 air crafts already or it is non operational?
Inspite of all the colossal failures...we witness continued government thrust in Aviation Sector..to ensure private profitability which is elusive. Railways Sector having no players to pay kickbacks may not see any modernisation like bullet trains which might provide relief to these upper middle class passengers willing to pay a premium for shorter travel time coupled with comfort and potentially offsetting the current travel subsidy is not being considered at all.
Similar commitment if offered to Railway modernisation would have ensured track modernisation and reduced carbon emission and save foriegn currency(purchasing jet fuel also enhance national security in times of troop mobilisation.
This affair should be an eye opener for Government to prioritise their strategy for upgrading the nations transport infrastructure.
Middle class should also realise that it is as romantic an experience to be travelling in modern bullet trains as with domestic airliners
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