12 Kingfisher flights cancelled as pilots' strike continues

At least 12 flights of Kingfisher Airlines were cancelled today as pilots, who fly its short-haul ATR planes, continued their strike for the second day protesting non-payment of salaries.

Nine flights from Bangalore and at least three from Delhi were cancelled till this afternoon as several pilots did not report for duty, airline officials said. All the flights cancelled involved operation of the 70-seater turboprop ATR fleet of the Vijay Mallya-owned airline.

A bid by Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal to pacify the agitating cockpit crew failed yesterday, even after he is understood to have promised the pilots in Delhi that the payment process would begin on Friday.

The agitating pilots said they would await the outcome of their discussion with the CEO till Friday and then decide on the future course of action.

They complained that they have not received salaries and other dues over the past five months and charged the management with failing to honour promises.

The flights cancelled from Delhi were those to Jaipur, Chandigarh and Udaipur, while those from Bangalore included services to Chennai, Mangalore, Hubli, Pune and Mumbai. Airline sources said Kingfisher's Airbus A-320 flights were not affected and were operating normally.

This is the second time in last nine days that the pilots have struck work. The earlier strike on July 2 was called off after a few hours with the management promising to pay some sections of staff from July 6.

While the junior staff got part of their dues, the airline management had said the rest of them, including pilots, would be paid in a few days thereafter.