At least 38 Vistara flights originating from key cities were cancelled this morning as the airline reeled under non-availability of pilots. As many as 15 flights taking off from Mumbai, 12 from Delhi and 11 from Bengaluru were among those cancelled.

This comes after more than 50 Vistara flights were cancelled yesterday and about 160 delayed. Speaking to NDTV, passengers had yesterday complained of poor communication and hours-long wait at the airport and slammed the airline for harassing passengers.

Vistara said in a statement yesterday that they have faced 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,” it said.

The airline has also said that it has decided to temporarily reduce the number of flights it operates “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 customers, 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,” the statement added.

Vistara pilots, it is learnt, are calling in sick as they protest the revised salary structure ahead of the airline’s merger with Air India. The pilots have been sent the revised pay structure over mail and asked to sign on short notice. The pilots have been warned that those who don’t sign will be left out of the merger.

Their flights cancelled or delayed by hours, fliers have taken to social media to express their grievances. The airline has been reiterating that the delays have been caused by operational issues and that it is working on them.

Passengers are advised to check flight status with the airline before leaving for the airport to avoid long wait and inconvenience.

Vistara Airlines has been hit with a severe operational crisis over the last few days due to non-availability of pilots.

Vistara pilots sought sick leave en masse, a move prompted by a revised salary structure that the airline was trying to implement ahead of its merger with Air India, a report by the NDTV Profit said.

In its email to pilots – which has been reviewed by NDTV Profit – Vistara said that those who do not sign up for the new pay structure would not be allocated a slot on the upgrade sequence list.

They would also not be eligible for the one-time bonus promised to pilots, the email said.

Such pilots will be deemed to not be interested in working with Air India. “Consequently, they will not be included in the transition to Air India,” Vistara further said.

Several pilots reported being sick on duty after receiving the email leading to flight disruptions, sources said.

The airline – co-owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines – yesterday said its teams are working to 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,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

“Our teams are tirelessly working to stabilizing the situation. We regret the inconvenience caused to our valued customers due to these disruptions,” the spokesperson added.

While 50 flights were cancelled and over were 160 delayed yesterday, about 38 flights have been cancelled this morning.

Vistara is in the process of merging with Air India post its privatisation and Singapore Airlines acquiring a 25.1 per cent stake in the once state-controlled airline.

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