Air India plans to send some narrow body pilots on deputation to Vistara

New Delhi: Tata Group-owned Air India is planning to send a set of first officers who can operate the narrow body A320 family planes to Vistara, which is grappling with pilot woes, according to multiple sources.

The pilots will be send to Vistara on deputation, subject to getting necessary regulatory approvals.

Air India and Vistara did not offer any comments.

The sources told PTI that some first officers who can operate A320 family planes will be send to Vistara on deputation.

Two of the sources said the number of narrow body pilots likely to be deputed to Vistara could be a little over 30.

One of the sources said it will be the first time that pilots from Air India will be deputed to Vistara for operating narrow body aircraft.

For operating Vistara's wide body Boeing 787 planes, around 24 pilots are already on deputation from Air India. They include 16 commanders and eight first officers, the source said.

Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has cut its operational capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily due to pilot issues.

The full-service carrier has around 6,500 staff, including 1,000 pilots and 2,500 cabin crew. The airline is in the process of merging with Air India.

Recently, the airline faced significant flight disruptions due to non-availability of crew. Many pilots had reported sick to protest against the new contract that would result in pay revisions and there were also roster issues.

Vistara has a fleet of 70 aircraft, including 53 Airbus A320 neos, 10 Airbus A321s, and 7 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

On April 5, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan told PTI that flight disruptions were mainly caused by a stretched roster for pilots and that the airline expects operations to normalise by May.

The carrier has also deployed larger aircraft like the B787-9 Dreamliner and A321 Neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more customers, wherever possible.

In the ongoing summer schedule, Vistara is to operate 25.22 per cent more weekly flights at 2,324.