Airlines
Vistara prepares to merge staff into Air India, CEO confirms
As the nation’s industrial Tata family combines the two airlines to rebuild its aviation empire and challenge market leader IndiGo, India’s Vistara airline has started making steps to merge its workforce into Air India Ltd.
Vinod Kannan, the CEO of Vistara, told on Monday that “the process of integrating the staff has started.” He anticipates that regulatory approvals will be finished by April 2024, confirming an earlier claim that Indian officials had expressed antitrust concerns.
According to a deal announced in November, Vistara, which is now controlled jointly by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines Ltd., will be merged with Air India, giving the Tatas additional strength to compete with dominant low-cost carrier IndiGo. In exchange for its interest in Vistara and a $250 million investment, Singapore Air will obtain a 25.1% ownership in the combined company.
Due to limitations in the nation’s competition rules, Mr. Kannan said Vistara has assembled a team to debate what should be the “end structure” of the integrated organization. The airline is informally discussing the merger process with its pilots and cabin crew while also submitting an application to Singapore’s competition authorities.
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When the merger is finalized, Vistara, which will have a fleet of 70 aircraft, wants to add capacity to Dubai, Bali, and Bahrain, according to Mr. Kannan. The airline has a fleet of 61 aircraft, including four bigger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 12 Airbus SE A320neo narrowbodies.
