BANGALORE: As per the contract of the firm, Kingfisher pilots are barred from having a union. However, pilots who have not been paid for over three months, protested by not showing up for work on Tuesday, demanding their wages be settled. The company has repeatedly sought “cooperation and patience” from their staff and have cited tax authorities freezing their accounts as the main reason for non-payment of salaries.
“We will not hold rallies or protest with banners, but will just not show up for work,” pilots said.
Last week, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya spoke to pilot representatives and assured them of payments “as soon as the accounts were de-freezed.” On Monday, the airline issued a statement reiterating that flights were being cancelled as a result of employee agitation on account of delayed salaries. “This situation has arisen as a consequence of our bank accounts having been frozen by the tax authorities. We are making efforts to find a remedy to this situation,” the statement said. Though the embattled airline has maintained that “normalcy” would return, they have not explained how, as troubles have only increased for the airline in the last few months.
Pilots had earlier said that they would stand with the airlines as they believed troubles would come to an end before the financial year ended. On Tuesday, 10 Kingfisher flights were cancelled.