The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday asked Vistara Airlines to submit daily information and details on the flights that are being cancelled and delayed. A senior DGCA official confirmed that given the various flight disruptions of M/s Vistara due to various reasons, including crew unavailability, DGCA has asked the airline to submit daily information and details on the flights that are being cancelled and delayed.
The airline has also been asked to ensure that the relevant provisions of CAR Section-3, Series M, Part-IV on “facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights” are complied with, like advance information, an option of refund, compensation (if applicable), etc. for the passengers,” the official added. Additionally, DGCA officials are monitoring the situation to ensure compliance with the mentioned CAR and minimise passenger inconvenience.
Meanwhile, according to aviation sources, the situation has developed after pilots refused to operate due to long duty hours and cuts flying hours. In early March, Vistara’s flight operations from two major cities Delhi and Mumbai airports were impacted, mainly due to the unavailability of pilots. Vistara is in the process of merging with Air India after it was privatised.
Several passengers raised their concern on social media and compliant the matter to ministry and regulating authorities. In response Vistara said “We have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons including crew unavailability. We acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this has caused to our customers. Having said that, our teams are working towards minimizing the discomfort to the customers. We have decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights we operate, to ensure adequate connectivity across our network. We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more number of customers, wherever possible. Furthermore, we are offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected customer, as applicable. Once again, we understand that these disruptions have caused immense discomfort to our customers, and sincerely apologise to them for the same. We are working towards stabilizing the situation and will resume operating our regular capacity very soon.”
Earlier, the Ministry of Civil Aviation informed that the ministry is monitoring the situation of Vistara flight cancellations. Airlines have to comply with DGCA norms to ensure passenger facilitation in case of cancellation or delay of flights.
