NEW DELHI: Vistara’s woes are on the verge of a merger with Air India (AI) as “significant cancellations and delays in the last few days” are forcing the Tata-owned airline to “temporarily” adjust its schedule.
I have no choice but to reduce. Come back. Airlines had to cancel almost 50 flights on Monday. Officials said the number of layoffs could reach 60 by Tuesday.
Vistara, a full-service airline with more than 300 domestic and international flights, plans to introduce wide-body Dreamliner and Airbus A321 aircraft on domestic flights to provide relief to affected passenger numbers.
Dissatisfaction among Tatas pilots is expected to increase in the coming months due to reported salary cuts following the airline’s merger with Tatas’ flagship Air India.
In recent months, many pilots have reported feeling unwell, which has led to reduced punctuality and many flight cancellations due to crew absences and other reasons.
The last few days have been particularly painful as social media received numerous complaints. The airline confirmed Monday evening.
However, flights of other airlines also experienced delays of 30 to 40 minutes in Mumbai on Monday, which is believed to be due to the movement of VVIPs in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city.
Vistara said it has decided to temporarily reduce frequency to ensure adequate connectivity across its network and will offer affected customers alternative flight or refund options.
A spokesman for the airline said: “We understand that these disruptions have caused significant inconvenience to our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are working to stabilize the situation and will return to normal operations shortly. We will resume operations.”
While the pilots are unhappy about the possible pay cut, there are also complaints from other employees. “The question is at what level we will be with hybrid airlines,” said one of the company’s employees.
Sources said the decision to merge Vistara with Air India was taken in haste for this reason alone, but a further delay would mean senior positions in AI would be filled and Vistara would have less scope for a takeover. That’s because there is a possibility. Nobody remained
Similar issues were not observed in the previous merger of AirAsia India and Air India Express.