Mumbai: How do you make a million dollars? Make a billion dollars and start an airline. That in some respects is the story of Kingfisher Airlines, started by the flamboyant Vijay Mallya and brought low by hubris. At the end of this month, it will be a year since the carrier stopped flying. Mallya said on Tuesday he's not giving up on his dream, that he's presented three separate revival plans to the regulator, which hasn't responded to them.
The Kingfisher story has been dominated by the battle between the banks, seeking to recover loans of over 7,000 crore, and the carrier's parent, the UB Group.
But how are the men and women who worked at the airline coping?
Their personal stories suggest that, for some of them at least, the toll has been heavy.
Praveen Gaekwad and his wife have been captains, or pilots who command an aircraft, at Kingfisher AirlinesBSE 9.92 % for the last six-and-a-half years. In the past year, Gaekwad has sold his house, car and wife's jewellery. The company owes him Rs 70 lakh, or 13 months of pay. That's part of the Rs 220 crore the airline owes its 3,000 current employees. Their chances of getting that money? Nobody really knows.
Read News In Full 25/09/13 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
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