Engineers' strike halts KFA's ATR operation

Kingfisher Airline's ATR operation from Delhi was crippled following a section of its engineers going on strike since last night demanding payment of salary.

"As of now four Kingfisher flights have been cancelled due to engineers not joining duty demanding March salary, which has still not been paid to them along with a majority of airline's employees," sources said here.

This is the fourth strike by engineers since May. Kingfisher Airline operates short haul destinations such as Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Dehradun, among others with ATR.

Earlier this week, the airline's Mumbai-based pilots had also gone on strike on similar issues forcing Kingfisher to use the services of manager-cadre engineers to certify aircraft for operations.

Under the DGCA norms, an aircraft can't take off unless its air worthiness is certified by the airline engineers after regular safety check-ups. A section of Kingfisher pilots had gone on strike late last month to protest salary delays.

Since April, KFA employees have been striking work at regular intervals. The debt-ridden airline, struggling for survival and facing funding drought for more than a year now, has not paid salaries to most of its employees since March.