Disgruntled pilots of Vistara who were protesting the revision of their contracts post the airline’s merger with Air India, have been promised payment for the extra hours that they work. The pilots have been assured that this extra salary will be credited to their accounts after the process of integration with Air India is completed.
The pilots have been worried that the revised contracts/salary structure—aimed at ensuring parity between the pilots of the two airlines— will result in reduced payments in terms of the fixed pay component and increased incentives linked to flying.
The protests over the past couple of weeks have witnessed many of its first officers reporting sick. This led to about 50 flights being cancelled on Monday alone. With a dearth of pilots, many flights were delayed too.
While the airline apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passengers, it also announced that it would be reducing the number of flights so that its network is not heavily impacted on the whole and there is enough connectivity.
About 15 senior first officers reportedly quit the airline recently. It is reported that most of those who had put in their papers had been trained to fly the wide-body Boeing 878 aircraft and were awaiting duty details.
Owing to the frequent flight cancellations Vistara has been directed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to submit daily reports and details of cancelled/delayed flights.