New Delhi, Oct. 25 (ANI): The almost month-long crisis in Kingfisher Airlines appeared to have ended on Thursday, when all of its employees agreed to accept the management's offer to pay them salaries for three months before Diwali.
Kingfisher Airlines CEO Sanjay Agarwal said all employees have agreed to resume work from Thursday itself.
According to reports, the airline management has promised to pay salaries for March within the next 24 hours, while the balance will have to be paid within the next two weeks before Diwali.
The management has also assured that the employees will get their fourth month salary by December.
The employees have agreed to be paid the remaining three months' salary after the airline performance improves.
"All the employees have agreed to resume work from today itself. We will be back in the sky very soon," Sanjay Agarwal said.
Earlier, a section of employees had said that if their demands weren't met, they would protest against Chairman Vijay Mallya at the Buddh International Circuit, the venue for the Indian Grand Prix in which Mallya's Formula 1 team Force One is competing.
UB Group sources had confirmed that Mallya will be present in person.
There were also reports that the Delhi staff was divided over the management's offer. However, after the management's meeting with all the employees, it became clear that the Kingfisher crisis is all but over.
Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had refused to intervene in the Kingfisher Airlines crisis, saying that Kingfisher is a privately-owned company and the government has no role to play. He also said that settling the salary issue was no guarantee to allow Kingfisher to fly again.
"They have to give a very sound plan to the government that they can pay taxes and their dues," Singh said.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended the flying licence of cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines till further orders, as it had "failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable service".
The action was taken after the airline's reply had nothing concrete to offer that could allay these fears and had just sought more time to reply, sources said.
The cash-strapped airline had stopped selling tickets on its website through October 20, as it struggles to convince pilots and engineers who haven"""t been paid for months, to return to work.
The airline's website also warns passengers that "all flights are subject to regulatory approval."
Kingfisher, regarded once as one of India's best airlines, grounded flights on October 1. (ANI)
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