‘Vistara service sucks’: Mohandas Pai slams airline over delayed flight as pilot crisis deepens

A pilot shortage forced Vistara to cancel several flights, while others were delayed.

Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai slammed Vistara for its “terrible service” on Monday – a day when the airline was forced to cancel or delay several flights over pilot shortage. Vistara was forced to reduce flight operations due to non-availability of pilots as many first officers reported sick to protest against the airline’s pay revision. Sources told news agency PTI that pilot salaries were reduced significantly under the revised pay scale.

On Monday, as Vistara grappled with delayed flights and angry customers, Mohandas Pai slammed the full-service carrier for its terrible service. Pai said he was forced to cancel his trip from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad because of Vistara’s failure to notify passengers of the delay until the very last minute.

The chairman of Aarin Capital Partners shared his grievance on X (formerly Twitter), where he said his Vistara flight from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport was scheduled to depart for Ahmedabad at 10.30 am on April 1. It was rescheduled to 12 noon, but passengers were notified of the change only at 10.12 am, Pai told The New Indian Express.

To make things worse, the Bengaluru-Ahmedabad flight did not depart at 12 pm either. “At 11.35 am, information was conveyed that it would only depart at 2 pm… I cancelled my trip and left for home,” said Pai.

Hi Mohandas, we understand the inconvenience the delay has caused you. The flight UK574 was delayed due to operational reasons. No matter how hard we try to operate as scheduled certain delays are unprecedented. (1/3)

— Vistara (@airvistara) April 1, 2024

Vistara, in its response, blamed the delay on operational reasons. “We understand the inconvenience the delay has caused you. The flight UK574 was delayed due to operational reasons. No matter how hard we try to operate as scheduled certain delays are unprecedented,” the airline responded.

According to PTI, Vistara had to cancel around 50 flights on Monday and more cancellations can be expected today. A Vistara spokesperson said the airline had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons, including crew unavailability.

"We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network," the spokesperson said in a statement. The airline apologised for the disruptions but did not provide details on the number of flight cancellations. The airline apologised for the disruptions but did not provide details on the number of flight cancellations.

(With inputs from PTI)