Kingfisher pilots threaten fresh stir from May 9

The pilots have also set a deadline on June 30 to the management to clear all salary arrears. "We have decided not to fly from May 9 if the management does not pay at least our January salary before that. We also want a commitment from the management to clear the remaining dues in a phased manner by June 30," a senior Kingfisher Airlines pilot told PTI this evening after a meeting in Delhi.

According to the payment schedule given by the pilots to the Kingfisher management, the February salary is to be paid by May 16, the salary for March by June 1, the salary for April by June 16 and the salary for May by June 30.

The development comes while the airline management is fighting an eviction threat from a rented office in the city for non-payment of rental since  November 2011. Earlier this week, a section of the Kingfisher staff including engineers and pilots, planned to move the labour court to expedite settlement of dues.

In April, a section of Kingfisher employees, including pilots and engineers, served an ultimatum to the management to clear the dues by April 20 or face a strike. The crisis was averted at the last minute after Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya wrote assuring payments within a week. But employees claim that as many as 200 of them, mainly engineers, have still not been paid December salary despite Mallya's assurance.

Kingfisher has a debt burden of Rs 7,057.08 crore and the financial crunch has hit its operations with the airline ranking lowest in market share at 6.4% in March.