Vijay Mallya, the Force India co-owner, insisted on Tuesday that it would again be a proud moment seeing his cars racing in the colours of the national flag at this weekend's Indian Grand Prix. But the billionaire entrepreneur is likely to face an uncomfortable few days at his home race as he tries to stave off threats of protests by staff of his struggling Kingfisher Airlines.
Kingfisher's fleet, controlled by Mallya - the 56-year-old self-styled "king of good times" - has been grounded since the start of the month when a staff protest turned violent. Two weeks ago an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Hyderabad court, since withdrawn, for bounced cheques totalling to about $2million, while the airline's licence was suspended last Saturday.
Kingfisher executives met earlier this week for crisis talks with disgruntled employees in an effort to thrash out a deal over the seven months of pay they are owed. The airline reportedly offered to pay three months of salary arrears to employees by the Indian festival of Diwali on November 13, but it was unclear whether that would pacify them.
24/10/12 TOm Cary/The Daily Telegraph/Daily News & Analysis
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Kingfisher's fleet, controlled by Mallya - the 56-year-old self-styled "king of good times" - has been grounded since the start of the month when a staff protest turned violent. Two weeks ago an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Hyderabad court, since withdrawn, for bounced cheques totalling to about $2million, while the airline's licence was suspended last Saturday.
Kingfisher executives met earlier this week for crisis talks with disgruntled employees in an effort to thrash out a deal over the seven months of pay they are owed. The airline reportedly offered to pay three months of salary arrears to employees by the Indian festival of Diwali on November 13, but it was unclear whether that would pacify them.
24/10/12 TOm Cary/The Daily Telegraph/Daily News & Analysis
