In townhall with pilots, Vistara top brass said to have discussed possibility of trimming network to reduce disruption

Vistara has cancelled over 100 flights over the last two days.

Tata Group’s Vistara Airlines may consider a reduction in its network as it has been running on full capacity, leaving no margin for error, the senior leadership of the airlines told employees in a townhall on April 3, people present at the meeting told Moneycontrol.

In the meeting between senior management and staff, largely pilots, the former expressed concerns over the lack of buffer capacity that has left the airline vulnerable to disruptions like the one seen this week when the airline was forced to cancel over 100 flights due to unavailability of crew.

"We have enough pilots for our fleet but we don't have the buffer to handle disruptions," a Vistara official said.

He added that Vistara Chief Executive Officer Vinod Kannan said in the virtual meeting with the pilots that the management will work on reducing the pressure on current resources.

“He said that the management will try and create relaxation in the rostering and for that, if needed, carefully scale back the network to create space for pilots,” the official said, quoting the CEO.

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Along with the CEO, the meeting was attended by Human Resources head Deepa Chadha, Chief Information Officer Vinod Bhat, Vice President (Training) Vikram Mohan Dayal, and Assistant Vice President (Operations and Innovations) Rajiv Malhotra.

Vistara did not respond to an email seeking comment on the possible reduction in the size of the network.

On April 1, the domestic carrier said that it would temporarily reduce the number of scheduled flights to "ensure adequate connectivity across its network", saying it was facing issues of "crew unavailability".

The CEO of the full-service carrier had told Moneycontrol in an interview on January 23 that they will add at least 15-20 percent to the existing strength of 800-900 pilots over the next six months to comply with the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norm the Union government has announced, so that it does not have to reduce its current domestic and international network.

Disagreement Over Pay Structure

Five pilots that Moneycontrol spoke to said that the management has assured them that salaries for  "extra working hours" would be credited post-integration with Air India's roster and asked them to resume work. The pilots cited were present at the meeting.

Pilots claimed that the disruption was caused due to mass sick leave by the crew over the revised pay structure, but Vistara’s management has maintained that flight cancellations and delays were due to crew unavailability.

While a query to the airline remained unanswered, an official from Vistara claimed that there was no such discussion held on the extra payment, which was referred to by some pilots . The official added that the new contract includes minimum payment for 40 hours of flying besides extra payment for additional hours of flying.

Ahead of its merger with Air India, Vistara had issued a revised contract to its pilots with changes in the salary structure. Under the revised framework, Vistara pilots are slated to receive a fixed salary for 40 hours of flying, as compared to the previous arrangement of 70 hours.

Pilots have expressed unhappiness over unclear compensation for "extra working hours" beyond the contracted 40 hours under the new structure, besides the reduced minimum paid hours.

The Vistara officials said that pilots are worried about one clause in the new contract. "With the new contract, there is a caveat. Pilots need to be available for 15 days a month to get the fixed salary. There is no disagreement on the 40 hours flying," said the official.

Action Taken So Far

In the town hall, the CEO reiterated that the current delays and cancellations in flights is due to the airline being stretched thin in terms of pilot availability, rather than being caused by pilots reporting sick. He urged the crew to report to work, according to sources.

Meanwhile, the spate of cancellations has prompted the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to seek a detailed report from Vistara. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also asked the airline to submit daily information and details on the flights that are being canceled and delayed.

The airline has also been asked to ensure that the relevant provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section-3, Series M, Part-IV on “facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights” are complied with.