Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya has assured his employees that they would be paid their salary dues of eight months soon but did not give a time-line, airline staffers said on Friday.
The assurance came a day after a section of employees threatened to disrupt the matches of Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB), owned by Mr. Mallya, in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).
Mr. Mallya met four representatives of airline pilots and engineers here late last night and told them that their wage dues from June last year till this January, would be paid as soon as the company gets money from the Rs 11,000 crore Diageo deal, the employees said.
Last November, United Spirits, a subsidiary of Mallya’s UB Group, had sold 53.4 percent stake to US-based Diageo for over Rs 11,166.5 crore in a multi-structured deal.
The Kingfisher chairman also informed the employees about the grounded airline’s plans to restart operations. He also said he would personally meet DGCA chief Arun Mishra soon to submit the revival plan for the airline, the staffers said.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh yesterday said that Kingfisher had not yet given a financially-viable revival plan to resume operations.
