Vistara Airlines recently faced significant operational challenges with over 100 flights experiencing delays or cancellations in the past week.

The airline acknowledged the issue, attributing it to various operational factors, and mentioned that its teams are actively working to restore normalcy and stabilise the situation.

“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,” Vistara issued a statement.

The spokesperson said in the statement, “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.”

Vistara said that the airlines will be offering alternate flight options or refunds to the affected customers.

“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.”

According to aviation sources, the recent situation arose when pilots declined to operate flights due to extended duty hours. Concerned passengers took to social media to express their grievances and reported the issue to regulatory authorities.

An X user wrote, “@airvistara Our 530 pm flight was cancelled. We changed to 4 pm & Now after checking in, find that flight to depart at 745 pm & The boarding card shows 4 pm departure time too! Why were we not informed of this change at all? @DGCAIndia @JM_Scindia Is Vistara going bust?”

Another user said, “#Vistara #UK827 Bombay to Chennai delayed more than 5 hours and no confirmation yet. Absolutely pathetic.”