Vistara Airlines announces 10% flight reduction amid crew shortage crisis

Vistara Airlines, a joint venture of Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, announced a 10% reduction in flight operations, equating to about 25-30 flights daily.

Managing crisis

Facing a shortage of pilots and crew, Vistara aims to navigate the crisis by scaling back operations. The airline, originally scheduled to operate over 300 daily flights for the summer, found its roster stretched, leading to pilot pushback and many opting out of duties.

In a statement, the company explained, "We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, i.e. roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating." This adjustment aims to return operations to February 2024 levels, providing much-needed resilience and buffer in the rosters.

The cancellations primarily affect the domestic network and are made well in advance to minimize inconvenience for customers. Vistara assured that all affected passengers have been re-accommodated on other flights. The airline highlighted an improvement in on-time performance despite the changes.

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Recent disruptions

Earlier in the week, Vistara faced significant disruptions due to crew unavailability, resulting in the cancellation of over 125 flights from April 1 over three days.Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan expressed hope to stabilize operations before May. He mentioned that more than 98% of pilots have signed the new contract, indicating progress towards resolving the staffing challenges.

This strategic reduction in flights allows Vistara to address immediate crew shortages while ensuring minimal impact on passengers, with plans to stabilize and improve operations in the near future.

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