Kingfisher Airlines cancelled a whopping 40 flights after many of their short-haul pilots declined to show up for work on Saturday, in protest of unpaid salaries. The airline has been struggling for months and owner Vijay Mallya has been trying to get the airline back on its feet, which is a major task since it has not once seen a profit since it was launched in 2005. With the cancellation of flights on Saturday, Mr. Mallya said that things may not improve for the airline in the near future.
In fact, Mr. Mallya presented an open letter to his employees, telling them that causing the cancellation of flights, which will further damage the reputation of the airline in the eyes of the public, will not bring in money. It will only make investors wary, making it more difficult to find the required recapitalization funds to help the flailing airline. In October of last year, the airline had to cut the number of daily flights it operates from 340 to 120. The airline said that 75% of the employees have been paid as of July 13 and the rest will be paid by July 16.
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