Vistara pilot crisis intensifies, dozens of flights canceled across India

At least 38 Vistara flights from major cities were canceled this morning due to pilot absences. As many as 15 flights from Mumbai, 12 flights from Delhi and 11 flights from Bengaluru were cancelled.

This follows the cancellation of 50 Vistara flights yesterday and the delay of 160 flights. Speaking to NDTV yesterday, passengers complained of poor communication and hours-long wait times at the airport and accused the airline of harassing passengers.

Vistara said in a statement yesterday that it had faced a “significant number” of flight cancellations and delays over the past few days “due to a variety of reasons including crew absences”.

: We acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this causes our customers. Having said that, our teams are working hard to minimize customer discomfort,” it said.

The airline also said it had decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights it operates “to ensure adequate connectivity across our network”.

“We have also deployed large aircraft such as B787-9 Dreamliners and A321neo on some domestic routes to consolidate flights or accommodate as many passengers as possible. In addition, we are offering alternative flight options or refunds to affected passengers ( if applicable). Again, we understand that these disruptions have caused our customers significant discomfort and sincerely apologize to them for this. We are working to stabilize the situation and will resume normal operations soon,” the statement added.