Air India deputes 30 co-pilots for Vistara operations

First time Air India’s A320 pilots are being deputed to another airline

In a move to alleviate the ongoing crew shortage at Vistara, Air India has deputed 30 first officers, or co-pilots, for A320 aircraft operations. This unprecedented step marks the first time Air India's A320 pilots are being deputed to another airline for operational support. The deployment comes at a crucial juncture for Vistara, which has been grappling with flight disruptions and operational challenges, leading to a reduction in daily flights.

"These pilots have begun training...for the narrow body aircraft [A320]," said a source. "This is the first such instance when Air India's A320 pilots are being deputed," source added. An official said the first officers will be able to operate flights only after a month after getting trained while maintaining the deputation is not related to the ongoing crew issues. Vistara, which is nearing a merger with Air India, has been struggling with flight disruptions due to crew unavailability, forcing it to scale down operations by around 10 percent or around 25-30 daily flights. Vistara earlier operated a little over 300 flights daily.

About 150 Vistara flights were cancelled from April 1 to April 6 after pilots reported sick. The airline CEO Vinod Kannan has assured pilots of a better roster and work-life balance. Kannan said in a media statement that 98 percent of the pilots signed new contracts and that flight cancellations were a result of a cascading effect of a multitude of factors. Pilots earlier refused to sign the revised contracts citing pay cuts, etc.

In an email to Vistara staff on April 11, Kannan said the airline was working to improve the situation and that "the worst is behind us". He said they have stabilised operations. "...our on-time performance (OTP) increased to 89 percent on 9 April 2024 (second highest among all Indian airlines)." He said they were working with relevant teams to introduce more resilience to operations.