MUMBAI - Disgruntled employees of grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines have written to cricketer Yuvraj Singh to not play for the Vijay Mallya owned team in the upcoming Indian Premier League series, while hundreds of them remain unpaid for a year and a half. The liquor baron’s team Royal Challenger’s Bangalore (RCB) took Singh on board for a record Rs 14 crore, in an auction held on Feb.12 and 13.
In a letter to Singh, the employees wrote they hoped that the cricketer “would rise above commercialism” and “support” the employees on the issue. “Mr Mallya says that he does not have money to pay us whereas he is spending crores in IPL/formula one/calendars,” the employees wrote in the letter, adding the amount to be paid to Singh would have “fed 15,000 mouths” in the airline. Kingfisher Airlines, once marketed as India’s most premium carrier cancelled flights indefinitely in October 2012, after its employees struck work demanding their salary arrears be cleared. The airline’s flying license was subsequently cancelled at the end of the year as it failed to produce a convincing business plan to start flying again.
Mallya now faces several court cases and winding up petitions—appeals to liquidate the company and distribute funds—from its employees and several creditors. Kingfisher owes close to $1 billion to its banks and a similar amount to its employees, fuel suppliers, aircraft leasing companies, hotels and even computer hardware sellers. The airline has posted a loss of Rs 822 crore compared to Rs 755 crore a year earlier, as it earned no revenue, but had to pay due and interest costs on loans. It owes 18-months salary worth about Rs 250 crore to more than 2,800 employees, many of whom have left the airline. Mallya has been called to appear before India’s chief labour commissioner BK Sanwaria on Feb. 18. RCB, founded in 2008, is owned by Mallya through his liquor conglomerate the UB Group. His son Sidhartha Mallya is a director in the team, which is captained by Virat Kohli.
Mallya now faces several court cases and winding up petitions—appeals to liquidate the company and distribute funds—from its employees and several creditors. Kingfisher owes close to $1 billion to its banks and a similar amount to its employees, fuel suppliers, aircraft leasing companies, hotels and even computer hardware sellers. The airline has posted a loss of Rs 822 crore compared to Rs 755 crore a year earlier, as it earned no revenue, but had to pay due and interest costs on loans. It owes 18-months salary worth about Rs 250 crore to more than 2,800 employees, many of whom have left the airline. Mallya has been called to appear before India’s chief labour commissioner BK Sanwaria on Feb. 18. RCB, founded in 2008, is owned by Mallya through his liquor conglomerate the UB Group. His son Sidhartha Mallya is a director in the team, which is captained by Virat Kohli.