Vistara said on Monday it had to cancel some flights as it faced a shortage of pilots and crew.
“We have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in recent days due to various reasons, including crew unavailability,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Vistara, owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, uses larger aircraft on certain domestic routes, including the wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliner, “to accommodate more passengers where possible,” the spokesperson said.
The airline, which will be merged with Tata-owned Air India, faced similar disruptions last month.
Local media had reported that an increasing number of pilots had reported sick. In response, Vistara had said that the disruption was not solely due to pilot absenteeism as the company also had to deal with certain unforeseen maintenance needs.
Vistara’s flight disruption comes as India’s aviation watchdog postponed a June 1 deadline for airlines to adopt new rules on rest and duty times for pilots, a move that has drawn criticism from some pilots and aviation safety experts.
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