A day after cancelling up to 50 flights, Vistara on Tuesday morning called off at least 38 flights scheduled to take off from key cities due to shortage of pilots. The Civil Aviation Ministry has taken due note of the situation and is monitoring the operations of the airline. It has also sought a detailed report over the frequent delays and cancellations.
As many as 15 flights scheduled from Mumbai, 12 from Delhi and 11 from Bengaluru were among those who stood cancelled on Tuesday, NDTV reported.
In a statement, a spokesperson of the airline earlier said that Vistara had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons, including unavailability of crew.
“We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network,” the spokesperson said.
The airline extended its apologies to its flyers for the disruptions caused. However, it did not provide any details on the number flight cancellations that would take place.
Several passengers expressed their frustration over the flight cancellations and said that they were disappointed with such a treatment.
Vistara apologised to flyers for the disruption caused due to the cancellations.
The airline has been facing pilot issues since the monthly emoluments for first officers of its A320 fleet were revised after the signing of new contracts. “We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has sought a detailed report from the airline over flight cancellations and major delays, a senior official told news agency ANI. The ministry is also monitoring the situation of Vistara’s flight cancellation, even though the operations are managed by the airlines themselves.
The airline has also been asked to ensure that the relevant provisions of 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 like advance information, an option of refund, compensation (if applicable) etc. to the passengers.
Airlines are required to comply with the norms of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ensure passenger facilitation in case of cancellation or delay of flights. The DGCA officials are overseeing the situation to ensure compliance of the above mentioned CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) and minimise passenger inconvenience.
Vistara has also deployed larger aircraft like B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo for select domestic routes to combine flights and accommodate more passengers, wherever possible.
“First officers reporting sick have forced the airline to cancel flights as their salaries have been reduced significantly,” one of Vistara’s sources was cited by news agency PTI.
The spokesperson noted that alternate flight options or refunds are being offered to affected passengers.
(With PTI inputs)
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