Kingfisher cancels 20 flights, passengers take the hit

Passengers booked to travel with Kingfisher Airlines continued to face a harrowing time for the fifth consecutive day Wednesday as the beleaguered airline cancelled 20 flights.

The development comes even as the industry regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Tuesday asked the airline management to submit a revised and realistic flight schedule plan within 24 hours.

“We don’t want customers to be affected. I have asked them to come up with a revised schedule not later than by tomorrow (Wednesday),” Director General of Civil Aviation E.K.Bharat Bhushan told reporters here Tuesday after his meeting with Kingfisher Airlines chief executive Sanjay Aggarwal.

“Today, we took stock of the situation and have found that only 28 of 64 aircraft are operating,” the DGCA had said then.

With 28 planes, the regulator estimates that Kingfisher would only be able to operate about 175 flights each week, down from its revised 240 operations per day.

Bhushan also briefed Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh here Wednesday about the current situation and his discussion with the airlines management which took place on Tuesday.

The regulator is inquiring into the large-scale cancellations and the fact that the airline failed to inform it of its revised flight schedules.

The regulator is also said to be screening the airlines’ operational aircraft to find their airworthiness and if financial constraints have in anyway compromised passenger safety.

Meanwhile, responding to reporters here Wednesday the minister reiterated that the private carrier will not receive any kind of bailout from the government.

“Banks are going to take their own decision,” Singh told reporters.

“We have to hear out Kingfisher. We don’t know what their plans are, how they are going to restore normal schedule. Then there are safety issues which they have to answer,” he added.

The latest reaction from the minister comes as sources in the consortium of 18 lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) claimed to have reached an agreement to provide a relief package of around Rs.1,650 crore to the airline.

The airlines’ latest trouble started Saturday (Feb 18) when its employees in Kolkata went on a flash strike. The carrier on the other hand blames the seizure of its bank accounts by the Income Tax department as the main reason for flight plan curtailment.