Kingfisher to provide revised flight schedule by tomorrow

Kingfisher Airlines has been given time till tomorrow by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to revise its flight schedule. DGCA chief, E K Bharat Bhushan, told reporters that the airline which is operating around 175 flights daily should get back on track in a realistic manner. He added, the DGCA was keeping a close watch on the operation of the company.

According to the ground staff, the company had 28 flights airborne out of 64 flights operational as of today, DGCA said.

The company has told the DGCA that salaries of employees for December 2011 would be paid by the end-February while January 2012 salaries by 20 March 2012.

The carrier had been asked to explain the reasons for cancellation of flights since Saturday, without the DGCA being informed. According to Bhushan, the airline had failed to share the necessary information with passengers, causing unacceptable inconvenience. Kingfisher had closed down its Kolkata operations as the staff had not been paid salaries for months. The DGCA has asked the government to review whether the step was acceptable.

Of the airline's 64 aircraft, 28 are operational. The DGCA is conducting a special safety surveillance of the planes in use, though according to Bhushan there was no cause for concern and passengers need not be worried. The airline has told the DGCA that it had enough cabin crew and pilots to manage its flights.