Vistara to discuss rostering system with pilots, incorporate feedback as much as possible: CEO Vinod Kannan

Vistara, the Tata Group airline undergoing a merger with Air India, plans to review its current rostering system following significant flight disruptions due to crew shortages. The airline's chief, Vinod Kannan, stated in an interview with news agency PTI that no unusual spike in attrition has been observed, despite concerns around a new contract leading to pay revision.

"We are going to go back to the pilots to seek their views and inputs to see how it (rostering system) is working, and what their thoughts are... whether they should be amended, whether they should be improved," Kannan said. 

The airline has temporarily reduced flight operations to ensure adequate pilot availability and expects normalisation by May.  

He added that within the pilot cohort, there are people with different profiles and pilots can bid for different lifestyles on the airline's rostering system, Kannan said. He further said that there are some who like to fly more and some who do not want to have layovers.

The Vistara CEO furthermore mentioned that a dialogue will take place as there can't be different rostering systems for different groups of pilots. "We will have to adopt the one that the majority are okay with. So, we are working on that," Kannan mentioned. 

In another statement, Vinod Kannan said that around 98 per cent of the pilots have signed the new contract. "We are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract. We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same. However, this has not caused any visible spike in attrition amongst pilots," Kannan said. 

Kannan also dismissed uncertainties among pilots about the merger with Air India, emphasising the scale and growth opportunities it presents. He said that around 400-500 aircraft are coming in with the Air India-Vistara merger.

"If you look at the opportunities that are available in the merged entity, there are, 400 to 500 aircraft coming in... from a pilot's perspective, I don't think this kind of opportunity is quite easy to find in order to move forward, whether it's for command progress or to move to wide bodies," Kannan said.

The merger is expected to complete by mid-2025. Vistara is co-owned by Tatas and Singapore Airlines.