Kingfisher declares partial lock-out

Passengers wait outside the Kingfisher Airlines reservation counter after their flight was canceled at the domestic airport in Mumbai, India, Monday, Oct 1, 2012 Kingfisher says it has canceled several flights Monday due to a labor dispute with its workforce, local media reported. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Kingfisher Airlines on Monday night declared a partial lock-out with immediate effect and suspended till Thursday flight operations which came to a grinding halt following a strike by a section of its employees.

In a statement, the Vijay Mallya-owned private carrier said it has been forced to declare a “partial lock-out” following a series of “protracted and unabated incidents of violence, criminal intimidation, assault, wrongful restraint and other illegal acts” including refraining from attending work, by a small section of “recalcitrant” employees.

The airline said the action by the recalcitrant employees who have regrettably chosen to take law into their own hands forcing a complete paralysis of operations were all “unnecessary and unprovoked.”

“It has been decided that flight operations will be suspended for the next 3 days, i.e. until October 4, 2012,” it added.

The operations got completely paralysed on Monday after pilots and some other staff joined the striking engineers protesting non-payment of salaries for the last six months, sending the shares of the airline tumbling by 5 per cent.

Before commencing legal action, the airline said it will make efforts to continue to engage with striking employees to persuade them not to indulge in any intimidatory tactics.