In recent weeks, discontentment has been simmering among pilots at Vistara, which is in the process of getting merged with Air India. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan on April 3 called an urgent meeting with all pilots as well as the top management, including the Human Resources division in an attempt to resolve the standoff over a new pay structure announced ahead of its merger with Air India
The airline has been grappling with a large number of cancellations for a few days after a section of Vistara pilots went on sick leave to protest a new salary structure announced in mid-February. While there were 10-15 cancellations daily since the announcement, these escalated over the weekend and the airline says over 100 flights were cancelled on Monday and Tuesday.
Aviation watchdog DGCA on Tuesday asked Vistara to submit a daily report on flight cancellations and delays as the Tata group airline cancelled several flights amid the non-availability of pilots.
The Civil Aviation Ministry is also monitoring the situation of flight cancellations at Vistara, which saw resignations of at least 15 senior first officers in the recent past.
Also Read | Eight reasons for Vistara’s massive flight cancellations
In recent weeks, discontentment has been simmering among pilots at Vistara, which is in the process of getting merged with Air India, following the new contracts wherein there are concerns that fixed pay component is getting reduced and there is more flying-linked incentive in the salary structure.
The new contracts that will bring parity between pilots of Vistara and Air India have been introduced as part of the ongoing merger process.
Vistara is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. Many first officers of Vistara’s A320 fleet have been reporting sick in the past few weeks and on Monday alone, around 50 flights were cancelled and many were delayed as there were not enough pilots to operate flights.
(With PTI inputs)
