Vistara operations: Air India to send some A320 family planes pilots on deputation to trouble-hit airline

Amid disruptions in the operations of Vistara Airline, Air India is planning to send a set of first officers who can operate the narrow-body A320 family planes in the troubled airline, where many pilots have quit. The pilots will be sent to Vistara on deputation, subject to getting necessary regulatory approvals, sources told news agency PTI.

Two of the sources said the number of narrow-body pilots likely to be deputed to Vistara could be a little over 30. They added that it will be the first time that pilots from Air India will be deputed to Vistara for operating narrow-body aircraft.

For operating Vistara's wide-body Boeing 787 planes, around 24 pilots are already on deputation from Air India. They include 16 commanders and eight first officers.

On April 7, Vistara said that it will cancel up to 25-30 flights per day as it is trying to minimise the impact of unavailability of pilots on duty. The airline operates around 350 flights per day. 

"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 will take us back to the same level of flight operations as at the end of February 2024," Vistara said in a statement Sunday.

The airline had got approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to operate 22% more flights per week this summer as compared to winter.

Vistara's flight cancellations will result in fare hikes especially on metro routes. On the Delhi-Mumbai route, Vistara operates around 18 flights per day, next to IndiGo which operates 19.

Vistara, a JV between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has around 6,500 staff, including 1,000 pilots and 2,500 cabin crew. The airline is in the process of merging with Air India. It has a fleet of 70 aircraft, including 53 Airbus A320 neos, 10 Airbus A321s, and 7 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. 

On Tuesday, it was reported that travellers will have to shell out more for domestic flights this summer season, with airfares surging 20-25% amid Vistara flight cancellations and strong air travel demand.

An analysis by travel portal ixigo showed that spot fares on certain routes jumped up to 39% during the April 1-7 period compared to March 1-7 period. During the given period, the one way spot fares for Delhi-Bengaluru flights climbed 39%, while it rose 30% for Delhi-Srinagar flights.