BANGALORE : Although Kingfisher Airlines is going through one of the worst phases of its existence, serving pilots continue to ‘believe’ that the financially ailing airline will bounce back from the slump. According to sources, nearly 30 per cent of the ATR pilots and majority of the Airbus pilots have quit.
However, the serving pilots have backed the airline and are certain that normalcy would resume before the end of the financial year, 2011-12. “We may be reaching the climax of our (KF Airlines) financial worries,” serving pilots opined.
Speaking to Express, they said, “When the crisis began last year, many pilots quit. But now, as we read about possible loans, we are confidence of recovering soon.”
Responding to queries on whether the airline had adequate number of pilots to operate under current conditions, they pointed out that to run a plane economically, there should be 8 pilots per aircraft. “This includes four captains and four first officers,” they said.
Reiterating to Vijay Mallya’s statements, the pilots said that they were sure that the airline would not close down. However, they lamented the absence of a Union to represent them and shared that it was ‘not-legal’ to have a Union, as per their contract. “We do agree that there has been little communication between the management and the pilots. We are informed of the company’s financial and operational problems through the media than the management,” they said.