Tata Group, which owns a 51% stake in Vistara — the remaining 49% is owned by Singapore Airlines — introduced its merger with Air India. Singapore Airlines can have a 21.5% stake in Air India.

In the brand new wage construction pilots have been awarded a hard and fast pay for a minimal 40 hours of flying — earlier the minimal was 70 hours — a pilot who has been with Vistara for greater than 5 years advised CNBC. Pilots used to “get the same amount of money” whether or not they flew for 10 or 70 hours earlier — though the minimal was 70 — he mentioned.

The new construction will reduce the wage from about $7,400 (for 70 hours however not all the time enforced) to $5,200 for a strict 40 hours, he mentioned.

More than 200 pilots haven’t signed the brand new contract, however their salaries have been decreased as per the brand new contract, one other pilot advised CNBC.  

Pilots got simply 15 days to signal the brand new contract, with Vistara’s administration sending a “threatening” e mail on dissidents probably lacking out on a one-time payout of $4,000 to $5,000, and deemed not occupied with becoming a member of Air India as soon as the merger is full, the primary supply mentioned. 

CNBC has reached out to Vistara for a response.

“We did not think this would happen. This is not something you’d hear from any other Tata company in India,” the supply mentioned.

Vistara’s CEO on Wednesday addressed pilots and mentioned that flight cancellations and delays weren’t simply on account of pilots reporting sickness, but additionally from planes being grounded and pilots hitting their most responsibility hours. 

He assured them that the issue will probably be solved within the coming days and apologized for poor schedule planning and overwork, local media mentioned.

“Working in Vistara is nothing like what it is in Singapore Airlines. This is very sad to say since Singapore Airlines has almost 50% ownership of Vistara,” the pilot mentioned. 

“The rostering practices are very, very bad. They can change your schedules on a whim. There is no semblance of any kind of schedule in a pilot’s life unless you’re on paid leave,” he mentioned. “This is different from Singapore Airlines where they have a union and an open dialogue all the time.” 

CNBC didn’t obtain a response from Vistara on scheduling processes.

Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association and Indian Pilots’ Guild mentioned in an announcement to CNBC on Thursday that the issues highlighted by Vistara pilots “are not isolated incidents but rather indicative of systemic issues that extend across various Tata Group aviation entities.”

Last month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation slapped Air India with a $95,658 fantastic for violating flight responsibility time limitations, Reuters reported.

India’s aviation sector has grown by leaps and bounds because the world’s most populous nation is about to be the fourth-largest global travel spender by 2030, largely on account of a rising middle-income inhabitants that can see a considerable rise in family earnings.

Indian vacationers are projected to take 5 billion leisure trips by 2030, with 99% inside the nation, in keeping with a report by Booking.com and McKinsey. 

“It’s common to see personnel and operational changes anytime two companies decide to merge … But we don’t anticipate there will be meaningful spillover effect from the ongoing event, even though there are certainly disruptions in the short-term,” mentioned Malcolm Dorson, head of rising market technique at funding agency Global X. 

Airlines want to make sure they’ve sufficient pilots to maintain up with excessive demand, he added.

— CNBC’s Naman Tandon contributed to this story.