Talks between Kingfisher Airlines' management, striking engineers and pilots fail

NEW DELHI: In a fresh blow to beleagured Kingfisher Airlines, talks between the carrier's management and pilots over the issue of pending salaries ended without any resolution.

Kingfisher Airlines, which has cancelled all flights through Thursday, faces a potentially prolonged shutdown until the cash-strapped carrier clears a salary backlog going back months.

The government is taking a tougher stance after allowing the airline to operate for months without paying salaries, although it has stopped short of forcing a closure of the heavily indebted carrier. Kingfisher has debt of $1.4 billion, owed mostly to government-controlled banks including State Bank of IndiaBSE 1.15 %, the country's top lender.

The airline, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, won't get the government's approval to resume flying before it pays staff salaries and submits an acceptable recovery plan, a senior official at the aviation regulator told reporters on Tuesday, declining to be identified as the negotiations are private.

Unhappiness among the rank and file came to a head over the weekend when technicians and engineers staged a protest that the airline said turned violent. Kingfisher has halted all flights since Monday due to the labour unrest and said it will decide on Thursday whether to lift a partial lockout of staff on Friday.

"This is going to last for a long time," said Sharan Lillaney, an aviation analyst at Angel Broking in Mumbai.