Pilot crisis: Vistara scales back operations by 10% to create buffer in rosters

Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, have decided to scale back its operation by 25 to 30 flights per day, which is 10 per cent of its total capacity.

"We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, i.e. roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating. This will take us back to the same level of flight operations as at the end of February 2024, and provide the much-needed resilience and buffer in the rosters," said an airline spokesperson.

"In line with what we had said earlier, with this all the changes for the month of April 2024 have been done and the situation has already gotten better with our on-time performance improving for the last few days. Looking ahead, we are hopeful of stable operations for the rest of the month and beyond," the representative added.

The move comes after pilots went on sick leave in protest of revised pay structure ahead of Vistara's upcoming merger with Air India, triggering flight cancellations and delays in the first week of April. 

Vistara has around 1,000 pilots out of a total workforce of about 6,500 people.

The decision to scale back operations is being done as part of revising rosters as well as to ensure adequate connectivity across its network.

The scaled back operations are mostly for flights on domestic routes and much ahead of time to minimise inconvenience to the customers.

"All the affected passengers have already been re-accommodated on other flights, as applicable," the carrier stated.

-- with inputs from PTI