A day after Vistara decided to temporarily cut its daily flight schedule, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) stepped in and said that it is monitoring the situation of Vistara flight disruptions. As per the latest development, MoCA sought a detailed report from the airline regarding flight cancellations and major delays.
The aviation ministry also asked Vistara to elaborate on the steps the airline is taking to deal with the inconvenience caused to passengers, as it has cancelled or delayed over 100 flights in the past week. The ministry also said that the flight operations are managed by Airlines themselves, however, they have to comply with DGCA norms to ease passenger woes.
“Ministry of Civil Aviation is monitoring the situation of Vistara flight cancellations. However, flight operations are managed by Airlines themselves. Airlines have to comply with DGCA norms to ensure passenger facilitation in case of cancellation or delay of flights,” MoCA said in a tweet.
Why are Vistara flights getting cancelled and delayed?
As the airline reels under non-availability of pilots, many flights from key cities were cancelled today as well. PTI yesterday reported that more flights are expected to be cancelled on Tuesday and the number could go up to 70.
This comes a day after the full-service carrier on Monday cancelled over 50 flights due to non-availability of pilots.
Why Vistara pilots called in sick en masse?
On April 1, the airline had disclosed that they have been facing a “significant number” of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days “due to various reasons including crew unavailability”. News Agency PTI reported that, as per the sources, the airline has been facing pilot issues since the revision in monthly emoluments for first officers of its A320 fleet following signing of new contracts.
The airline’s pilots have been calling in sick as they are protesting the revised salary structure ahead of the airline’s merger with Air India. The pilots have been sent the revised pay structure over mail and asked to sign on short notice. The pilots have been warned that those who don’t sign will be left out of the merger.
Vistara’s response on ongoing flight disruptions
Vistara in a statement on Monday said, “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.”
In light of this, the airline took a call to temporarily curtail the number of flights it operates “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, wherever possible. Furthermore, 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 stabilizing the situation and will resume operating our regular capacity very soon,” the statement added.
