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Journalism of Courage
The aviation safety regulator has served a show-cause notice on Kingfisher Airlines,asking why its permit should not be cancelled for failing to provide passengers with safe,efficient and reliable service.
The notice,which could lead ultimately to Kingfisher losing its licence to fly,suggests that the airline has not been able to adhere to its approved schedule for the last 10 months,leading up to a partial lockout this week.
The notice has been issued under section 15(2)(b) of Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules,1937,giving Kingfisher 15 days to reply. If the reply is not satisfactory,the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has the power to act, a top civil aviation ministry official said.
In a statement issued on Friday evening,the ministry said,The DGCA may cancel or suspend the permit of an airline for such period as he thinks fit,if he is satisfied that the holder of the permit has failed to establish a safe,efficient and reliable service.
A majority of Kingfisher employees went on strike on September 30,protesting non-payment of salaries since March. On October 1,the Vijay Mallya-promoted airline announced a partial lockout till October 4,which was later extended to October 12.
Kingfisher got a breather of sorts on Friday after State Bank of India announced it would release some funds for payment of salaries on humanitarian grounds. The money that has been released by the tax authorities,80 per cent of that will be made available to the company on humanitarian grounds,specifically to pay salaries of the employees, SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said in Mumbai.
Banks stopped lending to Kingfisher after it stopped repaying loans. Kingfisher has borrowed Rs 7,000 crore.
