Bangalore: The suicide by the wife of a Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) employee in New Delhi on Thursday has turned the spotlight on the incredible financial distress that the airline's 4,000-odd employees have been going through. Most of them have not been paid for 6-7 months.
Tales abound of unpaid rents, credit card dues, and school and college fees, threats of eviction from landlords, threats from bankers on account of non-payment of car and home EMI payments, and even marital problems. Many KFA staffers are the only breadwinners in their families.
One KFA pilot, who did not want to be named, said life had "become scary". "I've not been able to pay my credit card bills, and now the bank is sending people over to my house. My internet connection has been removed as I couldn't clear the bills," he said. KFA owes the pilot close to Rs 30 lakh in salary arrears, which the pilot said he's not going to let go of. Many KFA employees said the salary arrears was the reason they hadn't quit the airline.
"What happens to my money for which I had worked for the last 7 months? I'm not leaving until I get my money," said the pilot. The absence of jobs in the saturated Indian aviation market is another reason for employees to stick with KFA despite the conditions.
06/10/12 Anshul Dhamija/Times of India
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Tales abound of unpaid rents, credit card dues, and school and college fees, threats of eviction from landlords, threats from bankers on account of non-payment of car and home EMI payments, and even marital problems. Many KFA staffers are the only breadwinners in their families.
One KFA pilot, who did not want to be named, said life had "become scary". "I've not been able to pay my credit card bills, and now the bank is sending people over to my house. My internet connection has been removed as I couldn't clear the bills," he said. KFA owes the pilot close to Rs 30 lakh in salary arrears, which the pilot said he's not going to let go of. Many KFA employees said the salary arrears was the reason they hadn't quit the airline.
"What happens to my money for which I had worked for the last 7 months? I'm not leaving until I get my money," said the pilot. The absence of jobs in the saturated Indian aviation market is another reason for employees to stick with KFA despite the conditions.
06/10/12 Anshul Dhamija/Times of India
