Vistara Flight Delays: Up to 70 Cancellations, Operations Reduced as Pilots Report Stage Sick-Out Protest – Here’s Why
Vistara Flight Delays: The government of India has stepped-in as Vistara crisis has deepened further with over 100 cancellations in the past week. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has sought a detailed report from the full-service carrier regarding flight cancellations and major delays. Passengers who booked flights with Visatara airlines might experience issues today as well as the airline is temporarily cutting down its flight operations due to a non-availability of pilots.
This situation resulted in the cancellation of about 50 flights on Monday. According to reports from PTI citing sources, up to 70 flights could be cancelled on the following day, Tuesday. A spokesperson from Vistara mentioned that the airline has faced numerous flight cancellations and delays recently due to various reasons, including a lack of crew members. “We have decided to temporarily decrease the number of flights we operate to ensure there is still reasonable connectivity across our network,” said the spokesperson in a statement. The airline expressed regret for the inconvenience caused but did not specify the exact number of cancelled flights. The spokesperson also assured that efforts are underway to resolve the situation, and operations will return to normal soon.
Vistara Flight Delays: What’s the reason behind chaos?
The chaos in Vistara flight schedules can be attributed to many first officers reporting sick in protest against a pay revision. The airline has been grappling with pilot shortages since revising the monthly salaries of first officers in its A320 fleet following the signing of new contracts. First officers reported sick have forced the airline to cancel flights as their salaries have been reduced significantly. The source claimed that some components of the salary have been reduced while incentives linked to flying hours have been raised, reported PTI.
Airline Offers Refund
The spokesperson said alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers are being offered and apologised for the disruptions. The spokesperson said teams are working towards minimising the discomfort to the customers. We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network. Further, the airline has deployed larger aircraft like B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more number of customers, wherever possible.
(PTI Inputs)
