Vistara Flight Crisis: Airline Chief Vinod Kannan Says Over 98 Per cent Pilots Signed New Contract

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said on Saturday that the airline hopes to stabilise operations for this month by this weekend and that more than 98 per cent of the pilots have signed the new contract. The company faced significant disruptions in operation earlier this week due to the non-availability of crew, and many flights were cancelled. Kannan, in a statement, said that the situation has already improved with its on-time performance improving for the last three days.

“We hope to stabilise our operations for the rest of April 2024 by this weekend,” he said.

Referring to the new contracts for the pilots, he said that some of them have concerns and queries regarding the contract. The airline is engaging with them to clarify and resolve the concerns, Kannan said, adding that “over 98 per cent of pilots have signed the new contract”.

The airline has around 1000 pilots. A section of pilots have raised concerns about the new contract that will result in pay revisions, sources said earlier, as quoted by news agency PTI.

According to Kannan, the airline is addressing the current situation on a war footing and continuing to hire more pilots.
The airline is also carefully scaling back operations slightly to provide much-needed resilience and a buffer in the rosters, he noted.

He also said that the airline hopes to stabilise operations for the rest of April 2024 by this weekend, as 98 per cent of pilots have signed the new pay contract. Kannan added that it has been reaching out to all customers affected by the delays and cancellations to offer relevant refunds and compensation.

A significant number of Vistara pilots had taken sick leave following the announcement of new salary rules, which coincided with the merger with Air India. The pilot shortage issue stemmed from pay cuts implemented after new flying hours regulations came into effect recently.

(With input from agencies)