Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya on Thursday wrote to the airline?s staff outlining a revival plan in response to the staff?s threat of seeking legal action in trying to close the company. The liquor baron also urged his employees to be careful in speaking to the media and alleged ?negative reporting? on the carrier.
?We have submitted a detailed restart plan to the DGCA which is in two parts,? Mallya wrote in the letter to the employees. ?The first part deals with a limited re-start utilising 7 aircraft ramping up to 21 aircraft in four months and the second part is a full scale rehabilitation of our airline growing to 57 aircraft within 12 months of recapitalisation.?
However, the letter did not mention anything about the payment schedule of the dues of employees but it said that both plans contain detailed information on funding requirements and ?payment of outstanding salaries to employees?.
The airline?s staff has not received salaries since June 2012 and July to September salaries were to be paid after recapitalisation of the airline. On Wednesday, the employees threatened to file a winding up petition in the court under the Companies Act, if the management did not share the revival plan. The Kingfisher Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Engineers? Association met in New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Kingfisher?s scheduled operator permit expired on December 31 after it had submitted a revival plan and renewal request. The DGCA, however, was not convinced with the revival plan and asked for further details. The carrier has a debt burden of R8,633 crore and accumulated losses of a similar order. On Thursday, Kingfisher?s share closed 9.96% higher on the BSE at R14.79.
