The Japan-based low cost airline Vanilla Air stated on May 16, 2014 that it will cancel a number of flights in June 2014, as it does not have sufficient number of pilots to fly them. Tomonori Ishii, the president of the company said that the airline will cut 154 flights, which is around a third of its national schedule for June 2014.
The low-cost airline is wholly owned by All Nippon Airways. Ishii added, “The company has not been able to secure a planned number of pilots, on top of some crew members leaving the firm”. The president also said that the cancellations will have an effect on over 2,500 passengers who have already made reservations for June 2014. However, it has been reported that the affected passengers will be guaranteed a seat with another company in place of the Vanilla Air ticket.
Moreover, full operations of the airline were scheduled to resume in July 2014, with some pilots still in training, while other pilots will be borrowed from All Nippon Airways. The latest news will affect flights to Tokyo and Okinawa and those to Sapporo. Meanwhile, international flights will not be affected.
The company’s flight operations began in December 2013 and Ishii blamed the short flying record of Vanilla Air for not being competitive enough to attract more pilots. However, Vanilla Air is not the only airline which is struggling with the shortage of pilots. Even Peach Aviation has announced a similar situation.
Photo Credits: Centreforaviation
