India's ailing private airline faces suspension

India's aviation regulator "Directorate General of Civil Aviation" (DGCA) has indefinitely suspended the flying licence of an ailing private airline company - "Kingfisher Airlines", for failing to come up with a viable financial revival plan after nearly a year of uncertainty. The decision has left nearly 6000 airlines' employees in the lurch, who haven't received their salaries for eight months, as the airlines company has been going through a rough patch. The airline has not operated a single flight since October 1. The agitated employees have been observing a strike for a couple of months demanding their dues. The airline currently has only ten operational aircraft compared to 66 planes a year ago. It is reeling under a USD 1.4 billion (Rs. 7, 524 crore) debt, and has accumulated operating losses of a similar amount. Following the suspension order, all Kingfisher Airlines' slots will be redistributed among other private airlines of the country. A statement issued by the airlines company said that that the action taken by the DGCA was not a cancellation but "a temporary suspension", valid only till the airlines submits a "concrete and reliable revival plan to the satisfaction of DGCA". Amid the crisis, the country's Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said: "We were neither lenient nor hard on Kingfisher Airlines. The DGCA does not at this moment think that Kingfisher Airlines can improve their financial state. The strike also, at this moment, won't stop, so after keeping all this in mind DGCA suspended the licence." He added, "Safety cannot be compromised. The engineers, ground staff are not performing the safety checks hence there can be no middle path. Kingfisher can always come back, but they have to have a proper plan from here on, have to improve their financial state and disgruntled employees have to be taken into confidence. DGCA will decide the further course of action."