Pilots on a high: Mallyas Kingfisher raises the bar

Kingfisher Airlines has emerged as the carrier having the maximum cases of pilots found under the influence of alcohol before take-off.

A number of airlines including Naresh Goyals Jet were cited where pilots were reported to be under the influence of alcohol in the past one year,civil aviation minister told Parliament. The Vijay Mallya-promoted airline Kingfisher is named after the most popular beer brand in his brewery business. Eight pilots of Kingfisher Airlines,six each of Indigo and SpiceJet and three each of Jetlite,Jet Airways and Paramount had beendetected alco-positive during pre-flight medical examination,Patel said.

Any pilot found to be alco-positive is immediately grounded for a period of up to six weeks, the minister said.

In reply to another query,Patel denied that passengers were being put to hardships by way of levying airport development fees and user development fees,saying it was purely an ad-hoc measure based on the concession agreement entered into by the government with joint companies for 36 and 48 months respectively to bridge the revenue gaps.