Vistara Pilot Crisis: Air India pilots will fly Vistara aircraft, preparations to send a group of first officers
Pilot crisis continues in Vistara, the airline company in which Tata Group has a major stake. Air India, owned by Tata Group, is now planning to deploy its pilot on the duty of flying Vistara flights. This came to light on Wednesday quoting several sources. According to PTI news, Air India is preparing to send a group of its first officers to Vistara. Pilots of this group can operate narrow body A320 family aircraft. At present, there is a pilot crisis in front of these planes.
Pilots will be sent on deputation to Vistara
According to the news, subject to obtaining necessary regulatory approvals, the pilots will be sent to Vistara on deputation. However, both the airlines have not given any comment on this issue. Sources said some first officers who can operate A320 family aircraft will be sent to Vistara on deputation. Two sources said the number of narrow body pilots to be deputed to Vistara could be slightly more than 30. One of the sources said this would be the first time that Air India pilots would be deputed to Vistara to operate the narrow body aircraft.
25-30 flights have to be canceled every day
Around 24 pilots are already on deputation from Air India to operate Vistara’s wide body Boeing 787 aircraft. The source said, these include 16 commanders and eight first officers. Due to the crisis, Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has reduced its operational capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights per day due to pilot issues. The airline has approximately 6,500 employees, including 1,000 pilots and 2,500 cabin crew. Let us tell you, the airline is in the process of merger with Air India.
Vistara has a fleet of 70 aircraft
Recently, the airline faced significant flight disruptions due to crew unavailability. Several pilots had called in sick in protest of the new contract, which would result in pay revisions, and there were also roster issues. Vistara has a fleet of 70 aircraft, which includes 53 Airbus A320neos, 10 Airbus A321 and 7 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
On 5 April, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan reported that flight disruptions were mainly due to increased rosters for pilots and that the airline hoped operations would return to normal by May. The airline has also deployed larger aircraft such as the B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more customers wherever possible.
