Employees of grounded Kingfisher Airlines have agreed to return to work, the embattled carrier's chief executive said on Thursday after a meeting with staff, who have not received their salaries since March. "All employees have agreed to resume duty right now.

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said this morning the airline's problems were not limited to salaries. "Salary is a big issue and the employees should be paid. But the bigger issue than that is their fiscal assurance to the DGCA (the aviation regulator).

They have lot of outstandings to the Airports Authority (of India), to companies, to lessors, so its not just a question of salaries to the employees," he said .

Meanwhile, engineers' representative Subhash Chandra Mishra said, "we are joining duty from today. We have accepted the management's proposal for a staggered payment of four months salary dues by December." A representative of the striking pilots also said they will resume work immediately.

Resumption of Kingfisher's flight operations may take at least three to four weeks as the airline has to get its suspended flying license revoked by the DGCA which also has to satisfy itself on safety issues as well as the viability of their financial and operational plans. Under the agreement arrived at, the management, which was earlier offering only three months salaries, climbed down to accept the workers' demand for payment of four out of seven months' dues by December end.

While the March salary would be paid within 24 hours, the April salary would be paid by October 31, May dues before Diwali in mid-November and June salary by December end. The salary dues from July to September would be paid by March next year after recapitalisation of the airline, the agitating staff said.

The management also withdrew its circular asking the staffers to give a written undertaking before resuming duty. The cash-strapped airline had stopped selling tickets on its website through October 20 as it tried to persuade pilots and engineers to return to work.

Debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines is also facing a fresh challenge, this time from disgruntled lessors who are clearing dues owed by the airline to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and repossessing their leased aircraft, currently grounded in a few airports in India.

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