Kingfisher cries out for help; govt may bail it out

Union Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi hinted on Friday that the government might step in and save the day for Kingfisher Airlines which is facing serious financial trouble.

The Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines had earlier in the day sought government help for a bailout even as it continued its flight curtailment spree for the fifth consecutive day and its stocks plummeted by over 19 per cent to an all-time low but recovered slightly later.

The civil aviation minister reportedly said he would help the airline in whatever way he could as he did not want it to shut down.

Ravi, news reports say, went on to suggest that he would speak with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and ask him to request banks and other lenders to help infuse funds at low interest rates into the ailing airline.

The seriousness of the crisis was underlined by the urgent request Kingfisher owner Vijay Mallya made to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi to help Kingfisher in infusion of funds through banks at low interest rates, besides other concessions in line with what Air India was getting, sources said.

Some 50 pilots and cabin crew did not turn up for duty by reporting sick as over 40 flights were cancelled across its network on Friday.

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Innumerable passengers across the country cancelled Kingfisher flight tickets to travel by other airlines, though after paying 20-40 per cent higher at the last moment.

The airline, which had earlier said it would restore its flights after October 19, has now indicated that it would take a few more weeks to normalise the flight schedule, that would go into the peak winter season air traffic.

Apart from taking aircraft off flights to reconfigure and install business class seats in them, airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal told PTI, "We decided to reduce frequency in some of the routes where we had multiple flights like Delhi-Mumbai or low passenger load like Nanded-Mysore."

This exercise was part of route rationalisation to improve profitability and revenue productivity of the flights, he said.

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Asked whether they had responded to the show-cause notice issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Agarwal said, "We are in close touch with them. We are explaining to them that these cancellations are temporary in nature. We are keeping them informed."

DGCA has issued the notice under Rule 140(A) of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, asking Kingfisher why it had not taken the regulator's prior approval to curtail its flight schedules as required by this rule. It has also sought to know whether the airline had taken any step to facilitate the passengers inconvenienced by the cancellations.

Meanwhile, all the oil PSUs -- HPCL, IOC and BPCL – have denied extending credit line to the liquor baron Mallya-owned airline and asked it to pay for lifting jet fuel on a daily basis.

The airline has suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore (Rs 10.27 billion) in 2010-11 and has a mounting debt of Rs 7,057.08 crore (Rs 70.57 billion).

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To questions on alleged exodus of pilots and cabin crew from the airline, Agarwal, "There is a process of natural attrition. Pilots and other staff come and go. If you put the number of pilots who have left in over 7-8 months, it could be 100."

"This has not happened all of a sudden as is being projected. Not a single Kingfisher flight has been cancelled due to shortage of crew as is being reported. We have over 650 pilots on our rolls now," the airline CEO maintained.

Industry sources said the lessors of Kingfisher's leased turboprop ATR aircraft fleet have put the airline on notice and want urgent payments for the lease.

The cash-strapped carrier also has unpaid dues to the operators of airports and other agencies, which have also been putting pressure on it to expedite payment.

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Meanwhile, Kingfisher's shares slumped by over 19 per cent to an all-time low on the bourses, before recovering some ground.

Kingfisher Airlines scrip hits all-time low

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines on Friday slumped by over 19 per cent to an all-time low on the bourses, before recovering some ground, as the cash-strapped company continued to face turbulence after it cancelled 30 more flights on Thursday.

Kingfisher shares crashed 19.12 per cent, touching a lifetime low of Rs 17.55 on the BSE. Similarly, on the NSE, the stock plummeted by 18.43 per cent to Rs 17.70.

The airline, which is facing financial difficulties, cancelled over 30 flights for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday.