Vistara sees significant flight cancellations; to cut operations due to non-availability of pilots
Mumbai, Apr 1: Vistara will temporarily reduce flight operations due to non-availability of pilots as many first officers have been reporting sick to protest against pay revision, a development that forced the full-service carrier to cancel up to 50 flights on Monday, according to sources.
The sources in the know said that more flights are expected to be cancelled on Tuesday and the number could go up to 70.
A Vistara spokesperson said the airline had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons, including crew unavailability.
"We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The airline apologised for the disruptions but did not provide details on the number of flight cancellations.
The spokesperson also said efforts are being made to stabilise the situation and that operations at regular capacity will resume very soon.
The sources said Vistara has been facing pilot issues since the revision in monthly emoluments for first officers of its A320 fleet following signing of new contracts.
The spokesperson said teams are working towards minimising the discomfort to the customers. We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network.
Further, the airline has deployed larger aircraft like B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more number of customers, wherever possible.
One of the sources said first officers reporting sick have forced the airline to cancel flights as their salaries have been reduced significantly.
The source claimed that some components of the salary have been reduced while incentives linked to flying hours have been raised.
Details about the number of daily flights operated by Vistara could not be immediately ascertained.
In the ongoing summer schedule, Vistara will be operating 25.22 per cent more weekly flights at 2,324.
The spokesperson also said alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers are being offered and apologised for the disruptions.
"We are working towards stabilising the situation and will resume operating our regular capacity very soon," the spokesperson added.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
