New Delhi: Captain GR Gopinath, the promoter of Deccan Charters, has put his entire fleet of aircraft on sale and fired dozens of employees as he grapples with a severe financial crisis, according to two persons with knowledge of the matter.
The company, which has been offering charter services to pilgrims and businessmen since 1997, has not paid employees for more than a year, said these persons. In the last month alone, 11 pilots and 20 technical personnel were laid off and only less than a third of the workforce of around 300 remain, they said, asking not to be identified.
Information gathered from Controller.com, a one-stop online marketplace for aircraft transactions, reveals that Deccan Charters has hired sales agents Flight Source International of the US and Sweden's Savback Helicopters to sell the aircraft. The company, formerly Deccan Aviation, owns 11 helicopters and five turboprop planes, according to the website of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
In a telephonic conversation with ET, Gopinath denied he was facing financial difficulties, but agreed that his charter company was not "doing well". "The machines are old, some copters were bought 20 years ago, and we couldn't match the new ones owned by cash-rich entrepreneurs."
There are too many people who own aircraft in India, said Gopinath.
15/12/12 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times
