Vistara Airlines could cut flights amid pilot shortage, sources say

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The CEO of India's Vistara Airlines told employees at a meeting on Wednesday that it will revise crew rosters and may scale back flights to address ongoing disruption due to a sudden shortage of pilots, two people familiar with the discussions said.. Vistara, owned by the Tata group and Singapore Airlines , has cancelled more than 125 flights since April 1, one of the sources said, after a number of its pilots went on sick leave at the end of March...

Some of those who went on leave were protesting against a downwards revision to pay ahead of a merger with Tata-owned Air India later this year, amid growing fatigue due to a busy schedule, according to two Vistara pilots...

However, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said the shortage was mainly triggered by many pilots having reached their flight duty time limit, and not just because of the high amount of sick leave, the two sources said.. Kannan said the airline will look to take pressure off the pilots and from May onwards there would be "visible results" in rostering..

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