Employees of cash-strapped carrier Kingfisher Airlines have threatened to go on strike if their outstanding salary of two months is not paid to them by 8 pm on Tuesday, according to media reports.
The airline will resume payment of staff salaries starting from this week after tax authorities unfroze its bank accounts, the airline's chairman and managing director, Vijay Mallya, said in a letter to employees earlier today.
Kingfisher’s bank accounts were frozen by India's tax authorities in February which restricted the carrier's ability to make salary and other payments to ensure smooth running of its daily operations, resulting in the grounding of several flights.
The carrier's junior staff will be paid on Wednesday, while all pilots and engineers will be paid on Apr. 9 and Apr. 10, Mallya told employees.
"My only focus now is to start paying your seriously overdue salaries," said Mallya.
According to a Reuters report, the company’s bank accounts were unfrozen on Sunday after the airline paid a total of Rs 640m to various tax authorities before March 31.
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