Pilot crisis: Vistara flyers stranded in Bengaluru for 13 hrs

KOCHI ; Over 80 passengers of Vistara Airline flight to Kochi were stranded at Bengaluru airport for almost 13 hours after the aircraft, scheduled for take-off at 7.30pm on Monday, did not take off for want of pilots.

The flight UK505 left for Kochi only by 8.30am on Tuesday with the Tata-owned Vistara offering no communication or explanation to the flyers.

According to reports, over 100 flights of Vistara have either been cancelled or delayed across the country in the past two days owing to a shortage of pilots. It is learnt that pilots employed by Vistara are dissatisfied with the pay cuts ahead of the airline’s proposed merger with Air India. As a result, many pilots have availed of sick leave, leading to the disruption in its services.

Vinayan V N, an IT professional from Shoranur working in Bengaluru, said it was the worst flying experience of his life so far. “As a regular flyer, flights being delayed is understandable. However, in this case, there was no communication from the airline’s end. I was travelling with my elderly parents, and this was their maiden flight. By 7.30pm, the flight was supposed to be on time. However, at 7:35pm when we enquired why the boarding had not started, the airline changed the timing and said the flight was being delayed by four hours. The next boarding was said to be at 11:30pm,” he said.

“The overall experience was ruined for my parents, as they had to spend the night in the airport. My mother told me that she will never opt to travel by air in future,” Vinayan said.

Among the stranded passengers were children, senior citizens, students,as well as transit passengers who missed their connecting flights to Dubai.

Ajith, a native of Thrissur who was travelling with his mother to attend his uncle’s funeral, missed the function due to the delay.

“The airline neither cancelled the flight nor provided any communication regarding the delay. I was travelling with my mother to my hometown to attend my uncle’s funeral. We missed it only due to the airline’s negligence. Had they informed us prior, we would have opted for another flight or made other arrangements,” Ajith said.

Narrating a similar ordeal, another passenger said what stood out in the whole episode was the lack of communication from the airline. None of the delays were communicated.

When contacted, a Vistara official said shortage of pilots was the reason for massive delays and cancellations of flights across the country. “The airline’s team is making required arrangements and the issue will be resolved by Wednesday,” he said.

The passengers were made to wait inside the aircraft till 2.30am after they boarded at 11.20 pm. The airline officials later informed the passengers that the flight would take off only by 5am. This was further delayed to 8am, and the flight finally took off at 8.30am on Tuesday (April 2). Meanwhile, the airline made passengers deboard, collect checked in bags and re-check in – repeating the entire process.

Services disrupted

• Over 100 flights of Vistara have either been cancelled or delayed across the country in the past two days owing to a shortage of pilots

• Vistara pilots are dissatisfied with the pay cuts ahead of the airline’s proposed merger with Air India. As a result, many have availed of sick leave