NEW DELHI: Vinod Kannan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Vistara, expects flight movements at the airline to normalise within the next 2-3 days as about 150 flight cancellations over the past three days due to a shortage of pilots have left many passengers stranded at airports.
To address the concern of pilots, Kannan along with senior management of the Tata Group airline held a meeting on Wednesday and assured the grieving pilots that they should not worry as there is enough growth potential for them in the airline as well as the merged entity.
Kannan also thanked the pilots for accepting the new salary structure, the bone of contention between the Air India-led management and the group of pilots. According to sources, the CEO also assured the pilots that the company would make changes in the rostering system so the pilots get ample amount of rest time. The changes in the rostering system are expected to be visible by May.
Kannan in the meeting also said that Vistara would reduce flight frequency to create additional buffer for pilots to avoid a similar situation in future. According to the airline management, the high level of utilisation of its working pilots and mass sick leaves reported by a group of pilots resulted in an unforeseen situation.
Since the start of this week, a significant section of Vistara pilots started reporting sick leaves, leaving the airline with no choice but to cancel flights. In recent weeks, discontent has been simmering among pilots at Vistara following the new contracts, ahead of its merger with Air India, wherein there are concerns that the fixed pay component is getting reduced and there is more flying-linked incentive in the salary structure.
As per a senior pilot at Vistara, the new contract notes that they will be eligible for guaranteed pay for 40 hours, a sharp fall from the 70 hours in their earlier contracts with the airline. The pilot added that this would lead to a significant cut in takeaway salaries.
Pilots are dissatisfied with rostering and their graduation process from narrow-body to wide-body aircraft. The new contract aims to bring parity between pilots of Vistara and Air India as part of the ongoing merger process, which is expected to be completed in 2025. Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines.