Vistara expects normal operations by May; stretched roster caused flight disruptions: CEO Vinod Kannan

Full-service carrier Vistara expects operations to normalise by May as the flight disruptions mainly caused by a stretched roster for pilots are getting addressed, its CEO Vinod Kannan said on Friday.

While emphasising that the concerns raised by the pilots are being reviewed and discussed by the airline, he also said the new contracts for pilots will provide for more opportunities in the future.

The Tata Group airline cancelled many flights earlier this week due to the non-availability of pilots and has been forced to temporarily reduce the overall flight operations to stabilise the situation. The carrier cancelled more than 125 flights over three days from April 1.

In an exclusive interview with PTI on Friday, Kannan said the need to cancel flights at a short notice will not happen after this weekend as the buffer situation for pilots is stabilising.

"It might be a reduced schedule... We are back to normal as far as the flights that are operating... The need to cancel flights at short notice will not happen after this weekend," he said.

According to him, the buffer situation in terms of pilots is stabilising and there is no cause for concern about last-minute flight cancellations.

"From Monday, whatever flights are in the system, they should be operating," Kannan said as he sought to assure travellers that flights will not be cancelled at the last minute.

As part of reduced operations, Kannan said the airline has cut 20-25 daily flights.

Vistara is to operate more than 300 flights daily in the ongoing summer schedule. The airline cancelled some flights on Friday.

"We are now working on the schedule for May, and we will try and optimise it to come to usual kind of operations... (we) expect normal operations (by May)," Kannan said.

"On behalf of all the 6,500 staff, we are very sorry for what happened. We all stand ready to bring the situation back to normal and it is happening quite fast," he added.

Vistara is apologising to customers who have been affected by the flight disruptions, Kannan said and stressed that it is not kind of service the airline provides.

"We have been reaching out to all customers (affected), apologise for the disruptions...," Kannan said.

With respect to pilots, he said it is a question of being more aware about what their feedback is, "we are reviewing their concerns and will discuss it".

Further, he said the airline will continue to have discussions with pilots to address their concerns.

Vistara, a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, has 6,500 staff, including 1,000 pilots and 2,500 cabin crew. The airline is in the process of merging with Air India.

Over the weekend of March 31 to April 1, Vistara had a number of disruptions. Earlier this week, aviation regulator DGCA asked the airline to submit a daily report on flight cancellations and delays.

"Over the last few months, we have added a number of aircraft, we have grown significantly and therefore, we have been pushing our resources quite to the limit.

"From a rostering perspective, we have stretched the rosters for pilots quite significantly... It means that when there were disruptions like... Bird strikes, engineering issues, there was not enough buffer or resilience which we can call on," Kannan said.

From the planning perspective, he said it was okay, but there were several disruptions in one round in early March and then again towards the end of the month.

"Therefore, this caused the whole roster to go haywire... That is the main reason (for flight disruptions)," the Vistara chief said.

Sources had said the new contracts that will result in pay revision were the main reason for many pilots calling in sick, resulting in flight disruptions.

Kannan said the new contracts for pilots were not the main critical reason for the flight disruptions, and the key reason was the stretching of roster.

"To be fair to my pilots, we had to call pilots on a short notice, pilots on standby, off, and many of them actually rallied, and we could operate some of these flights.

"Otherwise, the situation would have been even worse... We did receive a lot of support from the pilots," Kannan said.

Further, he said the airline had multiple sessions with pilots on the new contracts and added that on the issues, the airline is engaging with the pilots and having open discussions.
"(new contracts) are based on our estimates and what we think looking at the average number of hours we are doing now. We believe that majority of the pilots would be better off (with the new contracts).

"... We are aware that some of the pilots have highlighted some concerns. We are looking at it... I had a dialogue with the pilots... We also have to be mindful that it is something that we believe provides for more opportunities in future as well," Kannan said.

On whether he thinks the recent flight disruptions could hit the Vistara brand, Kannan said, "we hope not" even as he acknowledged that the disruptions are something that could have been avoided.

"The onus is on us to go back to the normal way of operating...," he said.

In November 2022, Tata Group announced the merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal wherein Singapore Airlines will also acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India.

"We expect to complete merger in a smooth manner," Kannan said.