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Journalism of Courage
Debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines saw its headcount fall by over 1,600 people or 22 per cent in the last fiscal and the carrier is planning further measures for optimising its 8220;human resources utilisation8221;.
The airline had a total of 5,696 employees for the year ended March 31,2012,down from 7,317 employees in the previous year,Kingfisher said in its annual report for 2011-12 released on Monday.
Costs towards employee remuneration fell by one per cent to Rs 669.5 crore during the year ended March 31,2012,even as the pay package of its CEO Sanjay Agarwal rose sharply by about 90 per cent from Rs 2.12 crore to Rs 4.01 crore.
Besides,Agarwal is entitled 8220;to free use of company car and telephone8221;,the company said,while adding that the remuneration of Rs 4.01 crore in 2011-12 excludes accrued leave encashment and gratuity.
No payments were made to Chairman Vijay Mallya,while non-executive directors were paid sitting fees for board and committee meetings attended by them.
In the previous year 2010-11,Mallya was paid 8216;guarantee and security commission8217; of about Rs 51 crore,,but the airline made a 8220;write back8221; of Rs 14.03 crore in 2011-12 regarding such commission paid to the Chairman.
The airline said that the payment of such commission,earlier accrued as payable in books of account to guarantors for issuing guarantees at the request of the company to lenders,has been withdrawn after directions from a consortium of its lenders,as per RBI8217;s guidelines.
8220;Further,for the same reason,no provision has been made in the books of account for commission payable in respect of guarantees issued by the guarantors to the company8217;s bankers/ others for the year,estimated at Rs 110.93 crore.8221;
8220;The company has communicated the matter to the concerned guarantors and their response is awaited,8221; it added.
Kingfisher further said 8220;there were no material developments as regards human resources/industrial relations front8221; and its 8220;employee relations remained cordial8221;.
In recent months,there have been various reports about Kingfisher staff abstaining from work due to non-payment of salaries on time,thus affecting the airline8217;s operations.
Listing out the measures proposed to be reviewed and undertaken to maximise its profits and cut losses,Kingfisher said it would be 8220;optimising human resources utilisation8221;.
Other such measures include phased capacity re-induction,transitioning to a single brand offering,strengthening route structures and reconfiguring aircraft for productivity,revising sales and distribution reach. Improving aircraft utilisation and schedule efficiency,focusing on driving revenue premium through yield management and a comprehensive review of costs across key functions are also proposed.
Now,Kingfisher engineers strike over salary delays
Mumbai: Close on the heels of its pilots going on strike demanding salaries,a section of Kingfisher Airlines engineers did not report for work on Monday protesting non-payment of March salaries,forcing the airline to use the services of managers to certify the aircraft for operations.
There was,however,no impact on the operations as no flight was cancelled or delayed because of the fresh labour unrest at the ailing Vijay Mallya-owned carrier.
8220;As many as 30-40 engineers did not report for work today as they were demanding payment of their March salary,8221; an airline sources said. This was the third strike by the engineers since May.
The absence of such a large number of engineers forced the airline management to draw manager-cadre engineers to certify the planes for dispatch,they said.
The airline spokesperson was not available for comments.
Under the DGCA norms,an aircraft can8217;t takeoff unless its air worthiness is certified by the airline engineers after regular safety check-ups.
The near bankrupt private airline,at present,has 12 departures from Mumbai,besides four night halts.
A section of Kingfisher pilots had gone on strike late last month to protest salary delays.
Since April,KFA employees have been striking work at regular intervals. The debt-ridden airline,struggling for survival and facing funding drought for more than a year now,has not paid salaries to most of its employees since March.
