The government has de-frozen the bank accounts of debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines and Air India after the two air carriers made part-payment of their service tax dues.
Says the airline should present satisfactory operating plan to DGCA and work on its rescue plans
Some pilots are already in touch with Gopinath while others are betting on Kingfisher's revival.
Licence suspension would be revoked only after stakeholders are convinced of the airline's revival plan, say sources.
Two of the largest airlines, Jet Airways and Air India, have decided to stop absorbing the surcharge on payments by agents made through credit cards.
Malvinder Singh's name is thrown up by rumour mills, after Tata, Reliance & Sahara.
A local court in Hyderabad has issued four more non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against businessman Vijay Mallya after he failed to appear in a court here in connection with alleged dishonour of cheques amounting to Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
"A section of Mumbai-based pilots have gone on strike due to repeated failure to keep up with the promises (made by the airline management)," airline sources told PTI in Mumbai.
Mallya, mired in a controversy for leaving India in the middle of a massive loan default probe, on Monday appeared to distance himself from an interview that quoted him as having said that time was not 'right' to return to the country.
Jet Aiways had almost signed the deal with Etihad when the new leaked and the stock price of the former shot up, causing the Abu Dhabi carrier to reconsider.
The carrier is loaded by debt of as much as Rs 7,000 crore.
The airline operates flights to eight international destinations: London, Dubai, Colombo, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kathm-andu and Dhaka.
Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) will meet its promoter, Vijay Mallya, and the rest of the brass on Monday, to chart a way forward for the grounded airline.
"Fresh viability is there for everyone to see. If they [Kingfisher] get more equity, the company is viable," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said.
Kingfisher's flying licence or the Scheduled Operator's Permit was suspended in October and later lapsed in December after the airline was grounded following a strike by its employees, including pilots, over non-payment of dues.
Global aviation industry would improve its profit from $6.7 billion to an estimated $8.4 billion thanks to the two countries.
Mallya showed his net worth at Rs 615 crore, mainly in shares and bonds.
Justice Manmohan Singh ordered the grounded carrier to pay Rs 28,95,000 to its former pilot, Captain Dinesh Kant Sharma, on his plea seeking payment of his salary for the notice period of five months.
The association also wondered how the brand value of Kingfisher was considered as a collateral while sanctioning a loan, and alleged that even when RBI knew that this was a "deliberate default", no action was taken by the banks.
The letter came on a day when at least 16 Kingfisher flights, 10 from Mumbai and six from Delhi, were cancelled due to the strike.
The apex court also put forth questions why loans were given to Mallya when he was a defaulter.
"India's global image has taken a beating," Mallya said on the social networking platform Twitter.
The notice for clearing the dues, served 10 days ago, gave the airliner 7 days time to make the payment but it has not yet responded, Mumbai International Airport Limited sources told PTI on Monday.
Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines said they are yet to hear from the grounded airline even as the deadline set by the bankers to bring in fresh equity of $1 billion ended.
The suggestion comes within days of reports that LIC and the Employee Provident Fund Organisation snapped up the entire Rs 7,400-crore (Rs 74-billion) bond issue of the debt-ridden Air India.
International Air Transport Association, which had suspended it from its Clearing House on Wednesday, said Kingfisher has been suspended from participating in the global airline body's Billing and Settlement Plan and Cargo Accounts Settlement System.
Vijay Mallya-led UB group's aviation entity further said that all its flights will continue to operate normally as per the schedule published on its website.
Nine flights from Bengaluru and at least three from Delhi were cancelled till this afternoon as several pilots did not report for duty, airline officials said.
There is more worry for Vijay Mallya, battling many a fire. Even as his Kingfisher Airlines struggles to hold itself, another of his major companies, United Spirits, has had a setback in its legal battle against his arch rival, Kishore Chhabria.
UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya has turned down suggestions from banks that he should give a personal guarantee as a precondition for additional funding to the cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines.
With promoters unable to raise money, airline may find it difficult to sustain curtailed operations.
Regulator says that it if Kingfisher is prepared to run the airlines DGCA is ready to renew license. However, the proposal from the airlines will be examined in all aspects before taking decision on revoking its license.
The meeting, held in Mumbai at the State Bank of India headquarters, was attended by most of the lenders and the airlines' chief executive officer Sanjay Aggarwal and chief Financial officer H G Raghunath.
SBI has over Rs 1,500-crore (Rs 15-billion) of exposure to Kingfisher.
Beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines on Monday virtually blamed the Income Tax authorities for the large-scale flight disruptions, saying freezing of its bank accounts by them had "severely affected" payment schedules that had led to the curtailment in its services.
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According to data reviewed by Business Standard, the dues from UB Holdings alone to USL shot up by 4.3 times to Rs 1,188 crore (Rs 11.88 billion) by the end of the last financial year, compared to an outstanding of Rs 272 crore (Rs 2.72 billion) by the end of FY12.
Budget expectations aviation sector.
The license of Kingfisher was issued on August 26, 2003, and is valid till December 31 of this year.
Striking Kingfisher employees decided to resume work from Thursday after an agreement with the management over salary issue.
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