Liquor-baron Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines, grounded since October 1, will remain grounded beyond October 12, sources in the DGCA said on Thursday.
The airline had initially declared a ?partial lockout? till October 4 as its engineers and pilots stayed away from work for non-payment of salaries.
The lockout was extended till October 12 after a breakdown in talks between the management and the staff.
?It is unlikely that Kingfisher will be able to resume flights after October 12,? a senior DGCA official told FE. ?Their employees haven?t returned and the airline has not yet replied to the show-cause notice sent by us.?
The official added: ?Till they come back with an operational plan which we ratify Kingfisher will not be allowed to fly.?
The cash-strapped airline?s employees have refused to return to work till the time their salary dues are repaid. Close to 500 engineers and pilots of Kingfisher Airlines have refused to show up for work since September 31. While some employees haven?t been paid salaries since March, others have dues since January.
Meanwhile, being rapped by the DGCA for opening ticket bookings from October 13 on its website, Kingfisher has now pushed back ticket-booking dates to October 20. It also prominently says that ?All flights are subject to regulatory approval”.
The aviation regulator, DGCA has already sent a show-cause notice to Kingfisher Airlines for cancellation of its flying licence. The notice was sent on October 5 and Kingfisher Airlines has 15 days to reply to the notice. The airline management again wrote to the employees this week, urging them to return to work. But the employees remain firm on their stance of no pay no work.
On Thursday, Kingfisher Airlines? stock remained unmoved at R11.45 after falling 5% each day since October 2. The BSE had changed the circuit limits for Kingfisher Airlines on September 27.
