Friday, March 16, 2012

Kingfisher to have full recovery plan in 2-3 days: Vijay Mallya

Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines will have a full recovery plan in place in 2-3 days, chairman Vijay Mallya said on Thursday.

One foreign airline and two non-airline foreign investors are interested in buying stake in the carrier, Mallya told reporters after a meeting with the debt-laden airline's pilots, who have been protesting against delayed salaries.

Mallya today met with striking pilots to end a row over unpaid wages that has led to cancellation of scores of flights.

Mallya did not disclose details of the meeting, but said it was a "productive" one.

"The pilots are extremely supportive to the company," Mallya said while addressing the media after his meeting.

Mallya said his top priority now would be to pay the pilots their salary. He also assured the press that KFA's flights would be on time.

The pilots' strike has forced the cash-strapped carrier to cancel more flights on top of those it scrapped last month to reduce expenses.

Kingfisher, which earlier this week announced it was curtailing its overseas flights in order to lower costs, had initially announced it was cutting its daily flight schedule to 175 from around 250.

The pilots' strike has further reduced the number of flights to around 100 a day.

At least 60 pilots have already left the airline to fly with rivals according to PTI.

The carrier has never turned a profit since its launch in 2005 and owes millions of dollars to suppliers, lenders and staff.

Its bank accounts have been frozen by authorities due to the non-payment of taxes and it has been dropped from a vital global payments and booking system run by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The airline's net loss widened sharply to Rs 4.44 billion ($88 million) in the three months to December from a loss of Rs 2.54 billion a year earlier, while its debt totals at least $1.3 billion.

India's airline industry - once a symbol of the country's economic progress - is now plagued by high fuel prices, fierce competition, price wars and inadequate airport infrastructure, with Kingfisher one of the worst-hit firms.

The airline has said "positive and immediate action is being taken on all fronts to cut costs".

Kingfisher's market share has slid to fifth position at 11.3 per cent, from second earlier, according to data on the civil aviation regulator's website.

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