Mallya tells striking employees to quit, threatens to stop funding

In another tough message to Kingfisher employees, chairman Vijay Mallya has asked protesting employees to quit the company and threatened to stop funding the carrier if they continued with the strike.

The debt-stricken carrier has not paid a majority of its staff in the past six months and has been under operational strain as pilots and engineers joined hands this week to strike work.

''Why should I spend everyday to keep our airline afloat if the actions of our own colleagues lead to loss of guest confidence and lower income by cancellation of flights or low load factors that result from uncertainty?'' Mallya said in a letter to his employees early on Thursday.

In his letter under the subject line,  `Dedication and Commitment', which the Mint newspaper has reviewed, Mallya, who has just returned from Europe, said investor confidence in Kingfisher was on the wane due to such actions by employees.

''If some colleagues feel that I will be pressurised by flight cancellations, they are wrong,'' he wrote. ''Instead, I will stop my own support as a few are effectively holding the entire company to ransom... If a section of our colleagues feel that their actions are justified and that they know best, they can elect to leave our company. But such threats and disruptive actions are not acceptable.''

Mallya has written to employees several times after tax authorities froze the company's accounts. The warning comes after Mallya pledged to infuse capital into the airline.