Kingfisher crisis: 130 pilots quit, 149 flights cancelled

NEW DELHI: The actual reason for the huge chaos among Kingfisher flyers across India became apparent on Thursday as the airline put its figures on the table. While Kingfisher claimed it was cancelling 50 flights every day till November 19, in reality, it operated only 269 flights of its allocated winter schedule of 418 daily flights on Thursday. A shocking 149 flights - 36% of its daily allocated schedule - were not operated. Officially, Kingfisher has said that it has cancelled flights to reconfigure its Airbus A-320 aircraft. However, it is learnt that around 130 pilots have quit the cash-strapped carrier in the past few weeks. Also, airport operators, oil companies and vendors of all imaginable items have massive dues running with Kingfisher and are demanding that owner Vijay Mallya pay up. Given the shortage of crew and funds, the airline has truncated its schedule, perhaps opting to "fly less and spend less". When contacted in Dubai, Mallya did not comment on the disparity in the cancellations. He is learnt to have assured the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that he would explain the cancellations. The truth on Kingfisher's actual operations came to light as DGCA directed all the airlines to submit the actual number of flights they would operate on Thursday against their winter schedule quota.
Only Air India, Alliance Air, Jet Airways, JetLite and Go Air were found to have operated all their flights. IndiGo and SpiceJet operated around 30 flights lesser than their allocation. IndiGo clarified that it had not cancelled any flight. "The winter schedule is for flights up to March 2012. As we induct seven more aircraft into our fleet (by) March 2012, we will add more flights to fulfil all our winter schedule approvals," the airline said in a statement. Besides the DGCA scrutiny, Kingfisher faces the threat of unpaid aircraft leasing companies seeking the return of their planes. Spare part vendors too - like other creditors - want their past dues to be cleared along with current ones. "In its current health, Kingfisher has two options - shut down or downsize significantly to survive for some time till either the environment improves or a suitor is ready to buy the airline," a highly placed industry source said.