Vistara flights: CEO Kannan's meeting with pilots ends, no conclusion yet, say sources

The impasse at Tata Group-owned Vistara Airlines is not yet over. On April 3, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan met the pilots and reportedly discussed roster schedules, salary structures post its merger with Air India. But sources told Business Today that the meeting ended with no solution or backup plan. 

Sources said CEO Kanan said he would hold one-on-one dialogue with the pilots and discuss issues, such as salary structure and duty hours.

The airline informed pilots that salaries for additional hours worked would be compensated following the integration with Air India's roster. Kanan reportedly said that roaster changes will come into effect from May. 

They added that the airline hopes to return to normalcy by next week. The pilots are protesting revised contracts following the airline's merger with Air India. 

The meeting was attended by on-duty airline pilots and other officers. HR Head Deepa Chadha, Vinod Bhat, Vikram Mohan Dayal, and Rajiv Malhotra were also part of the town hall. 

Today's meeting was organised after several Vistara flights were delayed and cancelled over the past few days. Some Vistara pilots took sick leave and didn't show up for work, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. Vistara, which was created through a partnership between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, flies  300 routes daily, across 50 cities.

It was earlier reported that Vistara will be bringing a new structure, wherein Vistara pilots would have a fixed salary for 40 hours of flying time instead of the 70 hours at present. Additionally, pilots will be compensated for extra flying hours and will earn an additional amount as a reward based on their years of service with the airline.

The airline has around 800 pilots and the senior first officers who resigned had completed their conversion training that allowed them to operate wide-body Boeing 787 planes. However, they did not get the duty of flying the 787 aircraft.

Amid flight cancellations, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked Vistara to submit daily reports on flight cancellations and delays. It also asked Vistara to ensure compliance with relevant rules pertaining to facilities that need to be provided to passengers in cases of cancellations and delays. The regulator is monitoring the situation in order to minimise passenger inconvenience.

Reacting to this, sources said service recovery was on track and refunds were being given promptly to the travellers for their cancelled flights. The daily report was submitted to DGCA.

(With agency inputs)