What caused the Vistara crisis?
Vistara’s public image has taken a severe beating in the last few days.
Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday asked the airline to file daily reports on flight cancellations and delays.
A senior airline official said that the airline is analysing the reason for disruption and expects to bring it under control by this week.
However, multiple airline executives that ET spoke to said that the magnitude of cancellation revealed inadequate availability of crew and lack of communication between management and pilots which created an atmosphere of mistrust where pilots were not willing to cooperate during unforeseen situations.
At the heart of this is a new contract that the airline has offered to its pilots as part of the merger process with Air India. It offers fixed pay for 40 hours instead of the existing 70 hours.
Vistara: Why flyers face turbulence when aviation sector is growing
While for many senior captains, it didn’t make a difference, as they will get compensated for every extra hour flown, for junior first officers and first officers it meant a reduction of pay.
According to a Junior First Officer, they will have to fly a minimum of 80 hours to get what they are earning under the current contract.
Pilots are also anxious over their seniority getting impacted, hurting their career progression after the merger. Seniority depends on the duration of a pilot’s tenure with a specific airline.
If a pilot switches an airline, seniority starts all over again irrespective of his flying experience. Multiple things
