Kingfisher report raises safety concerns

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday gave an interim report on the serious crisis facing Kingfisher Airlines to the civil aviation ministry, touching upon issues ranging from operational safety to financial crunch.

DGCA is understood to have referred to the six-day strike by engineers and pilots over non-payment of salaries, followed by the partial lockout declared by the management till tomorrow, and said that safety of operations has been seriously jeopardised.

The regulator is also believed to have said that non-payment of salaries was a matter of serious concern, not only for the employees, but also for safety, as those affected were manning flight operations.

According to the laid-down norms, an aircraft cannot take off before it is certified as fit for flight by engineers. DGCA has asked the airline officials to explain how they would maintain operational preparedness when they resume flights, as safety was of prime concern. The airline should also seek the nod of the regulator before resuming its operations, official sources said.

The Kingfisher officials, who met DGCA chief Arun Mishra yesterday, had expressed hope that ways to resolve the crisis and resume operations would be found in the next few days. While partial lockout would be on till tomorrow, the failure of conciliatory talks between the management and striking employees on Wednesday has deepened the crisis facing the carrier owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Kingfisher, which had a fleet of 64 aircraft several months ago before the crisis engulfed it, is now operating only ten of them — seven Airbus A-320s and three turbo-prop ATRs. The number of daily flights have also come down substantially from over 400 last year to between 70 and 80.