The ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) sought a detailed report from Vistara regarding flight cancellations and major delays as the airline cancelled or delayed over 100 flights in the past week, news agency ANI reported citing an official in the know. Vistara may cancel around 60 flights on Tuesday after the airline cancelled approximately 50 flights on Monday. The number could even go up to 70, news agency PTI reported citing people in the know. The airline attributed flight disruptions to a shortage of pilots as it announced measures to alleviate the situation. These include reduction in flight operations and utilization of wide-body aircraft on domestic routes, it said.
What DGCA said on Vistara
DGCA asked the airline to submit daily information and details on the flights that are being cancelled and delayed. The airline has also been asked to ensure that “facilities are provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights”. Officials are also monitoring the situation to ensure compliance, DGCA said.
What Vistara said on flight delays and disruptions
Vistara said that it was forced to cut a number of flights as it was dealing with a shortage of pilots and crew as a company spokesperson said in a statement, “We have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons including crew unavailability.”
The spokesperson also said that efforts are being made to stabilise the situation and that operations at regular capacity will resume soon.
Teams are working towards minimising the discomfort to the customers, the spokesperson added.
“We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more number of customers, wherever possible. Furthermore, we are offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers, as applicable. Once again, we understand that these disruptions have caused immense discomfort to our customers, and sincerely apologise to them for the same. We are working towards stabilizing the situation and will resume operating our regular capacity very soon,” the spokesperson said.
Vistara is using larger aircraft, including the wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliner on certain domestic routes “to accommodate more passengers, wherever possible,” the spokesperson said.
The airline faced similar disruptions last month as well.
Meanwhile, Economic Times reported citing people in the know, that first officers of Vistara who are unhappy with the new employment contract have been reporting sick for the last two days which has resulted in multiple Vistara flights delays.
