NEW DELHI - Kingfisher Airlines of India said it had canceled several flights Monday because of employee unrest, a fresh blow to the ailing carrier that sent its share price down by the daily limit of 5 percent.
Many of its employees were unlikely to report for work after threats from other workers, said Kingfisher, which is owned by the billionaire Vijay Mallya.
“A section of employees of Kingfisher Airlines has not been reporting for work over the last fortnight, and over the past two days, they have been threatening and even manhandling the other employees who are reporting for work,†the Kingfisher spokesman, Prakash Mirpuri, said in a news release.
All Kingfisher flights scheduled to depart from the Delhi airport until 4:30 p.m. were canceled, the airport's Web site showed.
The Mint newspaper reported that the airline's ground staff had refused to attach an air bridge to a plane in Mumbai on Sunday, stranding passengers onboard, while some engineers beat up an executive. A company spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the report.
It was the first reported instance of employee violence at Kingfisher, which has not paid salaries for months and is under the constant watch of regulators, the tax authorities and banks.
Kingfisher is saddled with $1.4 billion in debt and has grounded most of its fleet. Banks have refused to lend it more money.
Last week, its creditors held inconclusive talks about the carrier's turnaround plan and will meet again this month.
Last month, India decided to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes of as much as 49 percent in Indian carriers, a long-awaited policy move that Kingfisher had lobbied hard for. Such investment could provide a lifeline to the country's debt-laden airlines.
No carrier has publicly expressed interest in buying a stake in Kingfisher, but Mr. Mallya, the chairman, told shareholders last Wednesday that he was in talks with foreign carriers about investing. He has made similar comments during the past year without any concrete developments.
Kingfisher shares dropped 5 percent to 15.35 rupees, or 29 cents, on the National Stock Exchange. The stock hit a lifetime low of 7.05 rupees in mid-August.
