Airline will resume normalcy by the weekend: Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan

Full-service carrier Vistara’s chief executive Vinod Kannan on Wednesday met the airline’s pilots assuring them that the airline will resume normalcy by the weekend adding that the pilots’ rosters will be fixed to maintain their work life balance.

“Kannan has promised to fix the roster issue to bring in stability in work life balance”, an airline official said.

The airline chief had a 30-minute townhall with the pilots alone.

Officials aware of the developments said that he also met the cabin crew, the engineers, and other departments separately.

Kannan, officials in the know of developments said, apologised to the pilots for flight disruptions that made the management ask them to report for duty even on their offs.

He acknowledged grievances on roster mismanagement and sought pilots’ support.

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Kannan said that air traffic related issues, engine problems and bird strikes aggravated the situation, a second airline official said.

“The CEO said, like every year, March typically sees a larger number of pilots applying for sick leave as the financial year ends. However, the airline could have handled the situation better,” the official added.

The CEO said that the disruption occurred as they were stretched due to less pilots’ availability and that things began to snowball due to delays on Saturday.

On the issue of the new pay structure that will reduce the co- pilots’ flying time from 70 to 40 hours and the monthly salaries, the CEO said that it was largely in the interest of the whole community.

Pilots also asked about their position in the airline after the merger with Air India.

“Vistara will continue to be in touch with Air India to ensure that the seniority list is implemented. There was no opposition from the pilots during the townhall and all questions were answered by the CEO. He also asked pilots to get in touch with him personally if they had doubts about the new contracts,” the official concluded.