<p>The employees of the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, who were on a hunger strike, called it off on Friday evening though airline chairman Vijay Mallya reportedly expressed his inability to pay salary arrears.<br /><br />The agitation was called off after the second round of meeting between the employees and airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal, sources said.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Mallya reportedly told the agitating employees, who were on a hunger strike since Thursday, that he did not have money to pay them.<br /><br />“I don’t have the money to pay your salary dues, because I cannot use the proceeds from the United Spirits-Diageo deal for this because of injunction from the Karnataka High Court,” Mallya reportedly told the striking employees.<br /><br />CEO Agarwal refused to talk to the reporters on Friday evening at the Kingfisher House here.<br /><br />But employees called off the agitation as the management agreed to continue to have dialogue with them, sources said.<br />Salaries have not been paid since last August.<br /><br />Last November, Mallya clinched a deal with British liquor major Diageo to sell majority 53.4 per cent stake in United Spirits for Rs 11,166 crore.</p>.<p>The deal also involves Mallya selling 19.3 per cent of his personal/promoter holding in United Spirits to Diageo for Rs 5,742 crore.<br /><br />Kingfisher Airlines, which never made profit since its inception in May 2005, has remained grounded from October last and the regulator DGCA also cancelled its flying licence in December. </p>
<p>The employees of the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, who were on a hunger strike, called it off on Friday evening though airline chairman Vijay Mallya reportedly expressed his inability to pay salary arrears.<br /><br />The agitation was called off after the second round of meeting between the employees and airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal, sources said.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Mallya reportedly told the agitating employees, who were on a hunger strike since Thursday, that he did not have money to pay them.<br /><br />“I don’t have the money to pay your salary dues, because I cannot use the proceeds from the United Spirits-Diageo deal for this because of injunction from the Karnataka High Court,” Mallya reportedly told the striking employees.<br /><br />CEO Agarwal refused to talk to the reporters on Friday evening at the Kingfisher House here.<br /><br />But employees called off the agitation as the management agreed to continue to have dialogue with them, sources said.<br />Salaries have not been paid since last August.<br /><br />Last November, Mallya clinched a deal with British liquor major Diageo to sell majority 53.4 per cent stake in United Spirits for Rs 11,166 crore.</p>.<p>The deal also involves Mallya selling 19.3 per cent of his personal/promoter holding in United Spirits to Diageo for Rs 5,742 crore.<br /><br />Kingfisher Airlines, which never made profit since its inception in May 2005, has remained grounded from October last and the regulator DGCA also cancelled its flying licence in December. </p>