Beleaguered
Kingfisher Airlines on Monday virtually blamed Indian Income Tax authorities for the large-scale flight disruptions, saying
freezing of its bank accounts by them had "severely affected" payment schedules that had led to the curtailment in its services.
"The prime reason for the current disruption in our flight schedules is the sudden attachment of our bank accounts by the I-T department. This has severely affected our ability to make operational payments leading to the present curtailment," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
It said the employees' "salaries can be paid and the grounded aircraft can be recovered quicker once the bank accounts are unfrozen and the schedule restored on priority."
The spokesperson said the company was in talks with the I-T authorities "to agree (on) a payment plan and get the bank accounts unfrozen at the earliest. We are appealing to them to see reason that inconvenience to the travelling public is not in anybody's interests."
Kingfisher's CEO Sanjay Agarwal and top officials have been summoned by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to appear before them on Tuesday to explain the large-scale disruptions in the operations of the cash-strapped carrier.
Over 30 flights were cancelled on Monday, including those to Bangkok, Singapore, Kathmandu and Dhaka, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at various airports across the country.
About one-third of its flights were cancelled in six metros on Sunday and similar disruption and delays were witnessed in Tier-II and III cities.
Ruling out any bailout to the airline, Indian Civil Aviation Minister
Ajit Singh said the government had recently "seized their bank accounts also. So our first concern is that flights which are ongoing, passenger safety should not be compromised and then let us see what reply they give. DGCA is inquiring into it."
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