Nearly 18,000 employees of Jet Airways and Kingfisher have not received salaries for two months, a reflection of the deepening crisis in the aviation industry.

On Monday, Kingfisher Airlines delayed payment of its December salaries again citing 'large unanticipated payments'. Employees of Jet Airways, the country's largest private carrier by market share, have not been paid for January as per a report in ET by Manisha Singhal. Both airlines together employ about 18,000 people in different functions across airports. 

Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal informed employees in an email on Monday that salary payments for December have been delayed yet again. In January, Vijay Mallya, the chairman and promoter, had promised payment of December salaries by the end of January.

About 180 Kingfisher pilots (out of 700) wrote to the management in January warning that they may not report for duty if they are not paid their December salaries soon.

Jet's management has not conveyed a payout date for January though it is believed to February 15, Wednesday.