A Vistara Airbus A320 passenger aircraft. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Vistara has cancelled nearly 1,000 flights for the month of April in order to ensure stability in its operations, which saw a massive disruption last week over hectic rosters for pilots and unrest from a section of cockpit crew over pay cuts.

“We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, that is, roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating,” a Vistara spokesperson said in a statement.

Also read | Merger pangs: Vistara gives ultimatum to pilots over new pay

The move will provide a much needed buffer to the airline in pilot rosters.

The airline said that the cancellations will mostly affect domestic flights and have been implemented much ahead of time to minimise inconvenience to passengers.

“All the affected passengers have already been re-accommodated on other flights,” the airline added.

Vistara has also deployed bigger Airbus A321 and Boeing 787 aircraft on domestic routes to accommodate more number of passengers and has also been booking its customers on other airlines. Air India will also be sending nearly 20 First Officers on deputation to support Vistara. Six Airbus A320s of Vistara are also being shifted to Air India Express to improve the aircraft and manpower ratio.

The cancellations are expected to push up airfares during the peak summer travel season in a market that is already grappling with nearly 200 aircraft grounded due to engine issues, out of which IndiGo alone has over 70 non-operational planes.

Vistara on Sunday said it is scaling back its operations by 25-30 flights per day to ease the pressure on pilots, underlining that the airline, hit by delays, has improved its on-time performance over the last few days.

The announcement comes a day after the crisis-hit airline’s CEO said that 98% of its pilots have signed the new contracts with the revised salary structure which had led to several of them calling in sick and causing flight cancellations.

The airline has stressed that the cancellations were done mostly in the domestic network and much ahead of time to minimize inconvenience to the passengers.

“We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, i.e. roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating. This will take us back to the same level of flight operations as at the end of February 2024, and provide the much-needed resilience and buffer in the rosters,” said an airline spokesperson.

“In line with what we had said earlier, with this all the changes for the month of April 2024 have been done and the situation has already gotten better with our on-time performance improving for the last few days. Looking ahead, we are hopeful of stable operations for the rest of the month and beyond,” the spokesperson added.

In recent weeks, discontentment has been simmering among pilots at Vistara, which is in the process of getting merged with Air India, following the new contracts wherein there are concerns that fixed pay component is getting reduced and there is more flying-linked incentive in the salary structure.

Over the weekend of March 31 to April 1, the full service carrier experienced severe operational disruptions and numerous flights were cancelled. Earlier this week, aviation regulator DGCA asked the airline to submit a daily report on flight cancellations and delays.  

The civil aviation ministry is also monitoring the situation of flight cancellations at Vistara, which saw resignations of at least 15 senior first officers in the recent past.

The airline maintains that it is addressing the issue on a “war footing”.

Vistara, a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, has 6,500 staff, including 1,000 pilots and 2,500 cabin crew.

As per the summer schedule, which started from March 31, the airline is to operate a little over 300 flights daily. It has around 800 pilots.  

New Delhi:

Crisis-hit Vistara has said it hopes to stabilise its operations by this weekend, insisting that 98% of its pilots have signed the new contracts with the revised salary structure which had led to several of them calling in sick and causing flight cancellations.

The airline’s CEO, Vinod Kannan, also apologised for the inconvenience caused to customers and acknowledged that some pilots have concerns regarding the contract. 

“In the light of the recent disruptions in our network owing to various operational reasons, we acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this has caused to our customers. We would like to again clarify that these disruptions were due to the cascading effect of a multitude of factors… Having said that, we acknowledge the inconvenience this has caused to our customers and sincerely apologise to them for the same,” he said in a statement on Saturday. 

Claiming that the full-service carrier has adequate crew for normal operations, Mr Kannan said the airline was challenged because it was operating “on a high utilisation”.

“We are addressing this on a war footing. Hence, we are continuing to hire more pilots and are also carefully scaling back our operations slightly to provide much-needed resilience, and a buffer in the rosters,” the CEO said.

On the customer front, he said, “We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo aircraft on select domestic routes to accommodate more customers, wherever possible. Furthermore, we are reaching out to all customers affected by the delays and cancellations over the last weekend, to offer relevant refunds and compensation.”

Mr Kannan claimed that the airline’s on-time performance has improved in the past three days and said that it hoped to stabilise its operations for the rest of April by this weekend.

“With reference to concerns being raised regarding the new pay structure of our pilots, we would like to clarify that over 98% of pilots have signed the new contract. Having said that, we are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract. We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same. However, this has not caused any visible spike in attrition amongst pilots,” the CEO said.

The carrier had cancelled over 125 flights in three days starting Monday and pilots have said that they are flying at the “edge of their maximum flight duty limitations”, which was causing major health issues and leading to “everyone falling sick frequently”.

The revised salary structure ahead of the airline’s merger with Air India – both brands are under the Tata stable – has also caused consternation among the pilots. Under the new structure, salaries of junior co-pilots will go down from Rs 2.35 lakh per month to Rs 1.88 lakh because they will be mandated to fly only 40 hours instead of the earlier 70. 

Sources had said those who opted to fly a higher number of hours could earn even more than they made earlier. 

New Delhi:

Hours after Vistara hinted at a probable end to its crisis, saying the flight schedules are expected to normalise over the weekend, pilots have pointed to fatigue issues which could have direct safety ramifications. “Pilots are flying at the edge of their maximum flight duty limitations. This is causing major health issues and everyone falling sick frequently,” sources said.

Vistara saw a surge in flight cancellations as the airline struggled with a shortage of pilots. An increasing number of its pilots have called in sick, protesting a revised salary structure ahead of the full-service carrier’s merger with Tata-owned Air India.

Sources, however, denied “coordinating together and taking mass sick leave”.

“Everyone is just tired from flying. The new FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) rules should have given us some relief but as expected that is also not happening,” they added.

Last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA deferred the implementation of the revised flight duty norms for pilots that were to be effective from June 1. The revised norms have reportedly been deferred for some time to have wider consultations.

The new norms provide for more rest time for pilots and seek to alleviate pilot fatigue.

Top officials in the airline, including CEO Vinod Kannan and senior members of his management team, held a virtual town hall with striking pilots Wednesday evening where discussions were held on new contracts and rostering issues.

Company sources said the pilots had been promised a course correction to address concerns in the wake of the merger with Air India. This, sources said, will include improved growth potential once the merger is complete and better rostering of pilots, which is expected by May.

Flagging major health issues due to “flying at the limits of the maximum duty limitations”, the pilot sources said: “Everyone is falling sick frequently. Pilots are already exceeding their max sick leaves in a year and ending up in leave without pay”.

They also criticised the airline for “trusting software more than their pilots”. “Pilots have been complaining about fatigue to the management. Management relies on the Boeing Alertness Model (BAM) and says the flight is safe, so you should have nothing to complain about. They trust software more than their pilots,” he said.

Everyone is “angry at the new contract, but we all knew it was coming sooner or later,” they said.

Earlier, company sources said that almost 100 per cent of the pilots accepted the new contract. Pilots expressed no protest during the virtual town hall, they added.

The airline had said on Monday that it was forced to cut a number of flights due to the pilot shortage and was using some of its larger aircraft to “accommodate more passengers.”

Vistara sources said only 24 flights were cancelled Wednesday compared to the 52 a day before

Pilots have been complaining that their cost to company (CTC) had been reduced in the new contract, in which they are mandated to fly 40 hours as opposed to 70 hours earlier. Sources, however, said under the new structure pilots were incentivised to fly more, and could earn more than they did earlier.

The civil aviation ministry said yesterday it was monitoring the developments while the aviation regulator sought daily information on flight disruptions from Vistara.

New Delhi:

Vistara expects to resume normal flight ops by the weekend, company sources told NDTV Wednesday evening, hours after CEO Vinod Kannan and senior members of his management team held a virtual town hall with striking pilots.

Company sources said the pilots had been promised a course correction to address concerns in the wake of Vistara’s merger with Air India. This, sources said, will include improved growth potential once the merger is complete and better rostering of pilots, which is expected by May.

The pilots have been told that opportunities to earn more will exist post the merger.

Almost 100 per cent of the pilots have now accepted the new contract, sources said, adding that no protest had been expressed by pilots during the virtual town hall.

Emphasising the point that crisis brought on by pilot shortage is nearing an end, Vistara sources also said only 24 flights were cancelled today compared to the 52 affected yesterday.

The pilots have yet to release a statement from their side.

READ | Vistara CEO To Meet Pilots After Scores Of Flights Cancelled

The airline had earlier said it faced a “significant number” of flight cancellations and delays “due to various reasons including crew unavailability”. It also said it had decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights it operates “to ensure adequate connectivity across our network”.

“We acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this has caused to our customers. Having said that, our teams are working towards minimizing the discomfort to the customers,” the airline said.

Vistara pilots had called in sick to protest the revised salary structure ahead of the merger with Air India. The pilots were sent a revised pay structure over mail and asked to sign on a short notice. The pilots were also warned that those who did not sign would be left out of the merger.

READ | Inside Track Of Vistara Crisis: Why Pilots Called In Sick En Masse

Pilots have complained that their cost to company (CTC) had been reduced in the new contract, in which they are mandated to fly 40 hours as opposed to 70 hours earlier. Sources in the airline, however, said that under the new structure pilots were incentivised to fly more, and that they could, in fact, earn more than they did earlier.

The centre is monitoring the situation and has sought daily reports from Vistara. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had asked the airline to share the steps they are taking to deal with the inconvenience caused to passengers.

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Vistara said on Monday it was forced to cut a number of flights as it was dealing with a shortage of pilots and crew.

“We have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons including crew unavailability,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

Vistara, owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is using larger aircraft, including the wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliner on certain domestic routes “to accommodate more passengers, wherever possible,” the spokesperson said.

The airline, which will be merged with Tata-owned Air India, faced similar disruptions last month.

Local media had reported that an increasing number of its pilots had called in sick. In response, Vistara had said the disruption was not attributed to pilot absenteeism alone as it also had to deal with certain unforeseen maintenance needs.

Vistara’s flight disruption comes as India’s aviation watchdog deferred a June 1 deadline for airlines to adopt new rules on rest and duty times for pilots, a move that has drawn criticism from some pilots and aviation safety experts.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)