Kingfisher submits revised schedule

The cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines has submitted a revised schedule to the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.

Confirming the development, the DGCA Director-General, Mr E.K. Bharat Bhushan, said that the proposal is currently under examination. Mr Bhushan had told newspersons on Tuesday that the airline was to submit a revised operating schedule based on a fleet of 28 aircraft. “This should allow them to operate about 175 flights a day," he had said.

It was not immediately clear as to how many flights the airline planned to operate in its revised schedule.

The airline's flights continued to be affected on Wednesday with about 40 flights being cancelled around the country. There were reports of about 16 flights being cancelled out of Mumbai alone.

Air India's worries

Meanwhile, state-owned carrier Air India has also stopped accepting passengers of the private sector airline.

“We are worried whether we would be paid for transporting passengers of Kingfisher Airlines. The fact that the Income-Tax Department had frozen their account is not good news. We are also a cash-strapped airline and we have to take prudent steps to protect our bottomline,” a senior airline official said.

Kingfisher Airlines saw a 75 per cent increase in net loss at Rs 444 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.

PTI reports : Reports said the airline was partially restoring its operations from Kolkata, especially flights from there to the North-East. All operations from Kolkata were shut down on Friday night.

Asserting that the Government was not going to bail out the ailing private airline as it cannot be compared with Air India, the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Ajit Singh, said it was for the banks to decide whether to pump in more money in Kingfisher.

“We have made it clear and I am sure Mr (Vijay) Mallya knows that Air India is a Government concern. Whatever help we give them (Air India), we cannot do it to any private industry.

“... we have said it before that banks will decide that (pumping in more money). Government is not going to interfere in it. Banks have to follow RBI guidelines. They have to worry about their NPAs (non-performing assets). They have to decide on the basis of the business plan of the company. If they are satisfied with the business plan, they can lend money,” Mr Singh said.

He said he did not want the airline to be shut down.

“Our priority now is that whatever flights they are still operating, the passenger safety should not be compromised. We are not going to bail out Kingfisher, but we hope it can mobilise resources or deposits. If they don’t, there will be more problems for passengers,” Mr Singh said.

On questions on cancellation of flights by the private airline, he said it should have informed the DGCA and passengers.

“...we will take whatever action but the bigger question is how Kingfisher survives,” he said.

Asked about FDI in aviation sector, he said it was not proper to link the issue with the present crisis because even if the Government does it in the near future, it will take time.

“Nobody is going to invest billions of rupees or dollars just within a day or two,” he said.

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