Government won't allow Kingfisher Airlines to fly planes if safety rules are not met: Ajit Singh

NEW DELHI: Ailing carrier Kingfisher Airlines will not be allowed to fly if safety rules are not followed, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said, after labour unrest forced the carrier to cancel its flights on Monday.

Singh said the civil aviation regulator will meet Kingfisher executives on Tuesday. He said the airline had cancelled all its flights thus far on Monday.

Kingfisher Airlines said it was cancelling several flights on Monday due to employee unrest, in a fresh blow to the ailing carrier.

"A section of employees of KingfisherBSE -4.78 % Airlines has not been reporting for work over the last fortnight and over the past two days, they have been threatening and even manhandling the other employees who are reporting for work," Kingfisher spokesman Prakash Mirpuri said in a statement.

It was the first instance of employee violence at Kingfisher, which has not paid salaries for months, and is under the constant watch of regulators, tax authorities and banks.

Kingfisher is struggling to pay not only its staff but it owes dues to all its vendors, airports where it flies to, statutory government authorities and has a massive debt burden of over Rs 8000 crore. The airline is fighting at least seven winding up petitions filed against it by different vendors in Indian courts.

Kingfisher is saddled with $1.4 billion debt and has grounded most of its fleet. Banks have refused to lend it more money unless it can infuse fresh funds into the airline.

Last week, Kingfisher's banks held inconclusive talks about the carrier's turnaround plan on Thursday and will meet again this month.