Pilot shortagetriggered delays buffet Vistara’s merger with AI
Pilot shortage at Vistara, the Tatabacked carrier set to be merged with Air India, has taken a toll on the airline’s flights, with at least 24 departures out of Delhi and Mumbai delayed on Wednesday, a day after there were 12 cancellations from the two airports.
The delays and cancellations hit flights across the network, including some international departures such as to Dhaka, Hong Kong and Dubai, data from flight tracking website flightradar 24 shows. Multiple sources said “10 to 15” flights had been cancelled daily for more than two weeks since February 18.
A multitude of factors have been blamed, including a persisting pilot shortage, worsened by pilots reporting sick to claim unutilised leave as the financial year end approaches, as well as a “silent protest” from some First Officers against the implementation of AI’s new salary structure at Vistara. The formula offers an assured minimum flying of 40 hours from 70 hours earlier. It could also entail First Officers taking a pay cut of ₹80,000 to ₹1.4 lakh.
Pilots are also known to be unhappy about poor roster planning because of the crew crunch, which often leads to their offs being cancelled at the last minute. Some even called the environment “too toxic”.
It is reliably learnt that the DGCA has also recently pulled up the airline for violation of pilot duty norms, indicating that the airline may have pushed its crew to do longer hours than legally permitted.
Vistara declined to comment on the matter.
The unrest at Vistara, follows similar patterns witnessed last year at budget carrier IndiGo.