Vistara continued to cancel flights on Thursday for the fourth consecutive day with no solution in sight. Around 20 flights were cancelled today, as per news reports. The Tata Group is reportedly working out an amicable solution to address pilot issues. On Wednesday, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan apologised to pilots about the issues and assured them of taking steps to resolve them.
Sources told The Economic Times that the airline is trying to cut down the cancellations of flights and the situation is improving.
Meanwhile, two Air India pilot unions extended their support to Vistara pilots, who have raised grievances regarding the duty roster and the revised salary structure. Air India is also owned by the Tata Group. Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture of Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. Vistara is in the process of being merged into Air India.
“It is crucial to recognise that the concerns expressed by the Vistara pilots are not isolated incidents but rather indicative of systemic issues that extend across various Tata Group aviation entities,” Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG) said in a joint letter written to Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday.
Vistara had to cancel more than 125 flights from Monday to Wednesday because a group of pilots unexpectedly called in sick at the end of March, showing their discontent with the schedule and salary changes. On Thursday, around 15 flights were canceled, while the airline usually runs 350 flights per day.
“Pilots are being subjected to conditions and treatment reminiscent of bonded labourers. There have been instances where Human Resources resorted to threatening pilots with potential disruptions to their future, accompanied by severe consequences. Threatening pilots with disruptions to their future is not only unethical but also creates a hostile and intimidating work environment,” the two unions wrote in their letter to Chandrasekaran.
