Over 98% of pilots have signed new contracts, operations stabilising, says Vistara CEO

Earlier this week, the Tata group airline was hit by network-wide flight cancellations and delays, which were primarily attributed to non-availability of crew, among other reasons. It is understood that a sizable number of pilots had called in sick, leading to the disruption, which was particularly bad on Monday and Tuesday with over 100 flights being cancelled and many others delayed. The situation has improved since and Kannan said the airline hopes to stabilise operations for the rest of April by “this weekend”.

There appears to be discontent among a section of Vistara pilots, mainly first officers, over the new compensation structure. According to industry sources, Vistara pilots were calling in sick, ostensibly to register their protest against the new pay structure that is in line with that of the Tata group’s flagship airline Air India. As per the new pay structure for Vistara pilots announced in February, they will be eligible for guaranteed pay for 40 hours, down from the 70 hours in their earlier contracts with the airline. This, many pilots fear, could lead to a notable cut in their take-home salaries.

Leading up to Vistara’s merger with Air India, are indications that a number of Vistara pilots are also concerned about career progression opportunities as well as seniority levels in the merged airline. A section of pilots is also understood to be miffed with Vistara over stretching them to the limit, and with rostering practices that many among them feel are haphazard and last-minute, thereby impacting their work-life balance.

On Wednesday, Kannan held a virtual meeting with pilots in which they were assured of better rostering. In the meeting, which was also attended by other senior management officials, the Tata group airline also tried to allay pilots’ concerns and fears around the new contracts and career progression opportunities after Vistara’s merger with Air India.

In Wednesday’s meeting, Kannan is understood to have thanked Vistara pilots for accepting the new contracts, saying that it was something that had to be done in view of the airline’s impending merger with Air India. The pilots were also told that there will be ample opportunities of career progression and income growth once the merger with Air India is complete.

A number of Vistara pilots had called in sick in late February-early March as well, again allegedly to protest against the new pay structure. Later in March, the Vistara management is learnt to have given an ultimatum to unhappy pilots to accept the new pay structure, or give up the one-time payout that came with it and also the opportunity to work with Air India post its merger with Vistara. Sources indicated that this move further aggravated the disgruntled pilots.

“We would like to again clarify that these disruptions were due to the cascading effect of a multitude of factors. While we do have adequate crew for normal operations, since we have been operating on a high utilisation, we were challenged due to operational disruption. Having said that, we acknowledge the inconvenience this has caused to our customers and sincerely apologise to them for the same,” Kannan said on Saturday.

The Vistara CEO reiterated that the airline is addressing the disruptions on a “war footing” by hiring more pilots and carefully scaling back operations slightly. Vistara has also deployed larger aircraft, including the wide-body Boeing 787, on select domestic routes to accommodate more customers.

“Furthermore, we are reaching out to all customers affected by the delays and cancellations over the last weekend, to offer relevant refunds and compensation. The situation has already improved with our on-time performance improving for the last three days. We hope to stabilize our operations for the rest of April 2024 by this weekend,” Kannan said.