What’s weighing down Vistara?

Captain Shakti Lumba a prominent figure in the Indian aviation industry has voiced serious concerns regarding the ongoing merger between Vistara and Air India Drawing on his extensive experience Capt Lumba who retired as IndiGo VP and had headed Alliance Air before that warned that without immediate action the merger could lead to a crisis similar to that of BoeingCapt Lumba highlighted several key issues within Vistara that he believes could jeopardise the success of the merger ldquoVistara for a long time has been short of pilots at all levels particularly acute at A320 FOs If you keep expanding without hiring training and upgrading enough pilots you are soon going to have to cancel flights This is common sense Sadly common sense is uncommon at Vistarardquo he posted on XCaptain Shakti Lumba former pilot and airline executivelsquoCalling in sick only way outrsquoContrary to speculation Capt Lumba clarified that the recent increase in pilot sick leave instances is not a coordinated action by pilots but rather a result of fatigue and overwork He attributed this to the airlinersquos strict leave approval process which makes obtaining short leave difficult leading pilots to opt for sick leave as the only viable option ldquoNo the pilots are not coordinating together and taking mass sick leave We do not have a union Everyone is just tired from flying The new FDTL Flight Duty Time Limitations rules should have given us some relief but as expected that is also not happening Everyone is angry at the new contract But we all knew it was coming sooner or later Some will leave because of it naturally In Vistara you do not get leave approved unless you plan everything out for the whole financial year usually in March The short leave approval rate is close to nonexistent Calling in sick is the only way out Pilots are flying at the edge of their max flight duty limitations This is causing major health issues and everyone falling sick frequently Pilots are already exceeding their max sick leave in a year and ending up on leave without pay he postedDeteriorating situationAccording to Capt Lumba pilots are dissatisfied with the new contract terms indicating that while some pilots may choose to leave as a result the majority are frustrated with the lack of flexibility and understanding from management He said ldquoAccording to what Vistara pilots told me they have been seeing things deteriorate over the years particularly after COVID They are convinced that the Tatas do not care how their managements run their airlines Why should they They are just waiting and watching for them Vistara management to completely screw up the merger They are unable to run an airline with 70 aircraft What do you think is going to happen after the merger As always itrsquos easy to blame the pilots Calling in sick burns them financially Especially with the new contract where they are paid only if they flyrdquoPointing out that India has the largest number of unemployed pilots in the world with over 6000 currently seeking employment he added ldquoWhy blame us if the management cannot hire and train these pilots They know the planes are coming In a country with the largest number of unemployed pilotswe do not have enough pilotsrdquolsquoPilots not trustedrsquoCapt Lumba also criticised the managementrsquos reliance on the Boeing Alertness Model BAM suggesting that they prioritise pilotsrsquo firsthand experiences and concerns He said ldquoPilots have been complaining about fatigue to the management which relies on the BAM and says the flight is safe so one should have nothing to complain about They trust software more than their own pilots Software made by Boeing Really Well very soon Vistara and new merged Air India are going to be Indiarsquos lsquoBoeing storyrsquordquoThe other sideA spokesperson from Vistara in a statement said ldquoWe have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons including crew unavailability We acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience caused to our customers Our teams are working towards minimising discomfort to customers We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate to ensure adequate connectivity across our network We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B7879 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more customers wherever possibleFurthermore we are offering alternative flight options or refunds to affected customers as applicable Once again we understand that these disruptions have caused immense discomfort to our customers and sincerely apologise to them for the same We are working towards stabilising the situation and will resume operating at our regular capacity very soonrdquoStafferSpeakA Vistara staffer said ldquoThe airline CEO had called for an emergency meeting this Wednesday with us pilots where he acknowledged the fact that the rosters were utilised to the maximum But maybe the CEO failed to understand the fact that this is having a cascading effect on us as we have to fly for more hours because of others calling in sick Because of this our health is jeopardised and we might call in sick someday leading to someone else being called to cover for usrdquo6000No of Indian pilots seeking employment currently