Vistara crisis: DGCA asks airline to submit daily report on cancellations and delays

DGCA asks Vistara for daily reports on flight cancellations as pilots call in sick. Concerns over salary revision leading to mass sick leave.

Mumbai: A day after Vistara reduced its operation due to the non-availability of pilots after they called in sick, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday asked Vistara to submit a daily report on flight cancellations and delays. The Civil Aviation Ministry is also monitoring the situation.

The DGCA officials are also monitoring the situation to ensure compliance with requirements for providing facilities to passengers in case of flight cancellations and delays. (PTI)

In Mumbai alone, Vistara cancelled 14 departures and 17 arrivals on Tuesday, and around 52 flights were cancelled across India.

The DGCA officials are also monitoring the situation to ensure compliance with requirements for providing facilities to passengers in case of flight cancellations and delays.

Sources have said that pilots taking sick leave in mass is a move to protest the salary revision that the airline was trying to implement ahead of its merger with Air India. Following the new contracts, there are concerns that the fixed pay component is getting reduced, and there is a more flying-linked incentive in the salary structure.

An airport source said, “There was a lot of confusion on Monday as flights got cancelled without any information. But on Tuesday, Vistara informed the passengers in advance about the flight cancellations.’’

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, which is monitoring the situation of Vistara flight cancellations, in a post on X, said, “However, flight operations are managed by the Airlines themselves. Airlines have to comply with DGCA norms to ensure passenger facilitation in case of cancellation or delay of flights.”

Meanwhile, a Vistara spokesperson said, “We had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons, including crew unavailability. We acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this has caused our customers. Our teams are working towards minimizing the discomfort to the customers. We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate to ensure adequate connectivity across our network. We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more customers, wherever possible. Furthermore, we are offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers, as applicable. Once again, we understand that these disruptions have caused immense discomfort to our customers, and sincerely apologise to them for the same. We are working towards stabilizing the situation and will resume operating at our regular capacity very soon.”

With many flights cancelled, it has also affected the holiday plans of many tourists, making it difficult for tours and travel companies. Vishwajeet Patil, owner of Raja Rani Travels and the president of the Maharashtra tour organisers association, said, “Holidays have started, and so has our season. If a flight is cancelled, tourists bear the load of buying new tickets at a much higher price. Vistara is a preferred airline because of its service and quality of aircraft. There is a public outcry on social media too. The Vistara sales department has said that this is not a long-standing problem. Earlier, tourists had suffered because of Go Air, and when it collapsed, it also impacted the businesses of hotels. Before that, the collapse of Jet Airways also affected us.’’