Summary
- Vistara is facing a crew shortage that has led to flight delays and cancelations, affecting over 100 flights in a week.
- New salary contracts are reportedly causing discontentment among some Vistara pilots.
- The Air India-Vistara merger is expected to be finalized in 2025.
Indian full-service airline Vistara has been hit with several flight delays and cancelations in the last couple of days as it struggles to get many of its cockpit crew to report to work. The airline is in the process of merging operations with Air India, and some employees are not happy with their new salary contracts.
Operational disruptions
Vistara is facing operational challenges these days due to a shortage of available pilots to fly its daily services. The carrier has had to trim its schedule in the last couple of days as many of its pilots have reportedly stayed away from their duties by calling in sick. A spokesperson for the airline said,
“We have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons including crew unavailability.”
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Over 100 of Vistara’s flights have been delayed or canceled in the past week. On Monday, around 50 flights were canceled, and this figure could rise to 60 on Tuesday, according to reports. Several services from key cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, have been affected.
Vistara has also had to deploy its widebody Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on some routes to make up for the Airbus A320 flights that had to be scrapped. The airline added,
“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, wherever possible. Furthermore, we are offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers, as applicable.”
Looking at the scale of disruption, India’s Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has stepped in and demanded a detailed report from Vistara about its troubles. He has also asked how the airline is managing to minimize the inconvenience this has caused passengers.
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Unhappy pilots
Vistara’s current issue relates to its new salary structure for its pilots, which has led to some resistance. Reports say that the new pay structure following the merger with Air India will lead to a decrease of more than 50% in pay for some pilots. It has also been said that Vistara pilots will get a minimum guaranteed flying of 40 hours after business integration, as opposed to 70 hours in the current contract.
There are also concerns among some of Vistara’s A320 pilots about their transition to widebody aircraft and how it might affect their upgrade to the post of captain.
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Merger with Air India
As with any airline merger, Air India and Vistara are currently navigating the complex process of employee integration. The two airlines have a tricky task of bringing together two separate working and operational cultures and also keeping their employees satisfied with new employment contracts.
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As both carriers try to get all the necessary approvals to finalize the merger sometime next year, it remains to be seen how they handle employee grievances arising from such processes.
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