In a newsletter, Kanan told the staff that the airline has successfully restored operations by around 25-30 daily flights, which is about 10 per cent of the capacity.
The troubles seen in Vistara earlier this month started when some pilots went on sick leaves and didn’t join back their duties.
Vistata CEO Vinod Kannan on Thursday told his staff that the worst is behind them as the airline is working towards stablising its operations. In a newsletter, Kanan told the staff that the airline has successfully restored operations by around 25-30 daily flights, which is about 10 per cent of the capacity. He said the company now working on the plans for May 24 and beyond.
While acknowledging that things should have been planned better, Kannan said it has been a “learning experience”.
“The worst is behind us and we have stabilised our operations… (Reasons for disruptions included) ATC delays, bird hits, and maintenance activities… We were stretched in our pilot rosters and there was not enough resilience to withstand injects that we would otherwise have weathered. We could and should have planned better. This has been a learning experience for us which we will review thoroughly,” Kanan said in the newsletter.
He also said it has been a challenging start to the new financial year and the airline faced significant operational disruption from March 31 to April 2.
“The anxiety and frustration felt by our customers was matched in even measure to the pain that all of us felt in seeing our much-loved brand drawing negative commentary from various quarters… I assure you that the worst is behind us, and we have already stabilised our operations, with our on-time performance (OTP) increasing to 89 per cent on 9 April 2024 (second highest among all Indian airlines),” he said in a message to the staff.
The troubles seen in Vistara earlier this month started when some pilots went on sick leaves and didn’t join back their duties. One reason for the problems was that some pilots called in sick to show their disagreement with the new contract, which included changes to pay.
At least 15 senior first officers had resigned from the airline, according to sources. The airline has approximately 800 pilots, and those who resigned had finished their conversion training to fly wide-body Boeing 787 planes. However, they were not assigned duties to operate the 787 aircraft, sources told news agency PTI.
Kanan added: “While the events of the last week may seem like a setback, the hallmark of our organisation has always been that we have bounced back from tough situations ‘ and emerged stronger… I trust each of you to continue to put in all efforts to ensure that we do not let our brand, and our customer, down.”
Following the disruption and flight cancellation, Kanan first held an online meeting with the existing staff assuring them of quick solutions.
The airline has a fleet of 70 planes, comprising A320-family aircraft and Boeing 787s, and plans to run over 300 flights every day during the current summer schedule.
“Dealing with disappointed customers is never easy but amidst all the chaos, we have received feedback on how some of you went beyond the call of duty to assist our customers to the extent possible,” Kannan said and expressed gratitude to the pilots for cooperating and stepping up to support operations.
