 "Flight delays, cancellations, crew shortages: What's going on at Vistara?")
India’s leading air carrier, Vistara Airline, is back in the news, but not for good reasons.
The airline, jointly owned by Singapore Airlines and Tata Group, has announced multiple flight delays and cancellations in the last few days.
In a statement shared on Monday, the airlines acknowledged the inconvenience and stated that teams are trying to stabilise the situation.
Here’s all we know about it.
Flight delays and cancellations
At least 38 Vistara flights from major cities were cancelled on Tuesday morning. Among the cancelled flights were up to 15 departing from Mumbai, 12 from Delhi, and 11 from Bengaluru. This development follows yesterday’s cancellation of 50 Vistara flights and the delayed departure of 160 more, according to NDTV.
Several disgruntled passengers vent their frustrations with delays and cancellations on X.
Former Infosys chief financial officer (CFO) Mohandas Pai was one among them, who voiced his outrage over a delayed Vistara flight from Bangalore to Ahmedabad.
“@airvistara service sucks. 20mts before departure from BLR to AHMEDABAD . -10-30 am, they change the time of D to 1200 noon. No prior notice. Why did @vistara not message the delay? Terrible service, no announcement, no clarity,” Pai wrote on the microblogging site.
@airvistara service sucks. 20mts before departure from BLR to AHMEDABAD . -10-30 am, they change the time of D to 1200 noon. No prior notice. Why did @vistara not message the delay? Terrible service, no announcement, no clarity
— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) April 1, 2024
Vikram Sampath, a writer and historian, expressed his disappointment on social media following the last-minute cancellation of his flight.
Pathetic @airvistara ... mumbai blore flight 5 pm gets cancelled last min citing "operational reasons".. we change booking to morning 9 am. U announce boarding n then say "operational reason" it now leaves at 11. Do u even care for ur customers, their time, money? As a CV Gold…
— Dr. Vikram Sampath, FRHistS (@vikramsampath) April 1, 2024
One of the passengers criticised the airline harshly and posted a long post with the hashtags “#Vistara #UK827” on X. “Bombay to Chennai delayed more than 5 hours and no confirmation yet. Absolutely pathetic.”
#Vistara #UK827 Bombay to Chennai delayed more than 5 hours and no confirmation yet. Absolutely pathetic. pic.twitter.com/vbsf7X98YJ
— Vignesh Murali (@Vigneshmurali95) March 31, 2024
Another one complained, “Now, chaotic situation with letting themselves out forcibly.. what a shame Vistara! Is there just no one, just no one who has some semblance of responsibility to at least inform. Why were we made to board in the first place. 2 AM and no more patience left.”
Now, chaotic situation with letting themselves out forcibly.. what a shame Vistara! Is there just no one, just no one who has some semblance of responsibility to at least inform. Why were we made to board in the first place. 2 AM and no more patience left. #scindia #PMOIndia
— Naveen Kumar Alur (@Ramuknav) April 1, 2024
It’s not the first time Vistara has left its customers waiting for hours at the boarding gate by landing them in the soup. When aircraft operations were disrupted at the airports in Delhi and Mumbai last month, primarily as a result of pilot shortages, the airline encountered a similar crisis.
Pilot crisis at Vistara
Pilots at Vistara have reportedly been upset about reported salary reductions upon merging with Air India, according to The Times of India.
The revised pay structure was mailed to pilots, who were instructed to sign it on short notice. They have also been informed that failure to do so will result in their exclusion from the merger. Thus, to protest this, pilots are not reporting for duty, causing a shortage of cockpit crew, the daily reported.
According to an unnamed pilot who spoke with CNBC-TV18, there might even be 70 cancellations tomorrow if this situation continues.
Most of the pilots who are protesting are the first officers operating the fleet of Airbus A320s. The fundamental concern pertains to their service agreement, which underwent major changes before the department-wide merger with Air India began.
According to the news channel’s sources, pilots on Vistara, who were previously guaranteed 70 hours of salary, will now receive 40 hours of fixed pay under the revised structure — the same amount as pilots on Air India.
“This revision has brought Vistara pilots’ salaries down by up to 50 per cent,” said another pilot.
First officers’ salaries have gone down by around ₹90,000 to ₹1,00,000, added another pilot who didn’t want to be named.
“Many pilots are unhappy with the salaries. They will be paid for 40 flying hours resulting in less pay from the current salaries for pilots,” confirmed another pilot.
Vistara’s response
Vistara cited “crew unavailability” for the frequent delay and cancellation of flights and said that the airline will temporarily reduce the number of flights to ensure adequate connectivity across our network.
“We confirm that we have had a number of flight cancellations and unavoidable delays in the last few days due to various operational reasons. Our teams are tirelessly working to stabilise the situation. We regret the inconvenience caused to our valued customers due to these disruptions,” the airlines said in an official statement following criticism by passengers, according to India Today.
“We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network. We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more number of customers, whenever possible. We are offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers, as applicable. Once again, we understand that these disruptions have caused immense discomfort to our customers, and sincerely apologise to them for the same. We are working towards stabilising the situation and will resume operating our regular capacity very soon,” it added.
Meanwhile, according to ANI, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) sought a detailed report from Vistara regarding flight cancellations and major delays.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has also asked the airline the steps they are taking to deal with the inconvenience caused to passengers.
To avoid lengthy lines and inconvenience, passengers are advised to check their flight status with the airline before heading to the airport.
With inputs from agencies
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