'Worst is behind us, working on plans for May 24 and beyond,' says Vistara CEO Kannan

Vistara, which faced turbulent times last week as it grappled with flight cancellations, is working on plans for May 24 and beyond, according to CEO Vinod Kannan. In an internal letter to employees reviewed by Fortune India, Kannan said that the Tata Group-owned airline has stabilised operations with its on-time performance (OTP) increasing to 89% on April 9, 2024.

“I assure you that the worst is behind us, and we have already stabilised operations with our on-time performance (OTP) increasing to 89% on April 9, 2024 (second highest among all Indian airlines)," says Kannan.

As per Kannan, a multitude of reasons such as ATC delays, bird hits and maintenance activities, early last month had a "cascading effect" on flight operations.

Owing to this, last week, the airline announced a 10% reduction in capacity, thus resulting in cancellations of about 25-30 flights per day as it worked towards stabilising operations. "Let me reiterate that we are working with the relevant teams to introduce more resilience to our operations. We have scaled back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day i.e. roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating. The cancellations are mostly on our domestic network and much ahead of time to minimise inconvenience to customers. Additionally, we are working on the plans for May 24 and beyond,” says Kannan. Vistara, which is set to merge with Air India this year, operates about 350 flights daily.

“As we emerge from this difficult phase, it is this commitment to being a customer-related airline that will help us bounce back stronger. We have worked hard over the last decade to become and remain the most loved airline in the country. While the events of 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,” he adds.

Vistara has provided necessary compensation to the passengers impacted by flight cancellations, as well as offered additional service recovery vouchers for passengers whose flights were significantly delayed, according to Kannan. 

Notably, Kannan had last week attributed an overextended pilot roster to flight disruptions. Kannan had then said that the management planned to adjust the schedule to alleviate the pressure on pilots starting in May.

Apart from flight delays, Vistara is also grappling with protests staged by several pilots and crew members against a pay cut owing to its merger with Air India this year and about the new contract which includes pay adjustments preceding the airline’s merger with Air India.