Al Vistara, Ready For The Coming Aviation Revolution, Will Fulfil Sky-high Expectations: Tata Son's Chief

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran announced the merger of Vistara with Air India, completed on November 12. The merger aims to transform Air India into a world-class airline. Singapore Airlines now holds a 25.1% stake in the enlarged Air India. The group has invested in people, processes, systems, and technology to revitalize the airline.

On Thursday, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the best quality of Vistara being brought to Air India was in decline for some systematic reasons when Tatas took over the airline two years back and fulfilled the sky-high expectations.

"We are fully aware that expectations for the new Air India are sky-high. We expect nothing less, and we expect to deliver nothing less," he said, asserting that the merged entity will be ready for the country's coming aviation revolution. Nearly two years after announcing the merger, the integration of Vistara with Air India was completed on November 12, and Singapore Airlines now has a 25.1 per cent share in the enlarged Air India. Tatas and Singapore Airlines jointly owned Vistara.

"Given our ambitions, this merger should be part of a journey. Different parts of the business were at different points of maturity when the merger commenced, so they will take time to align fully", Chandrasekaran said in a LinkedIn post. While acknowledging that there is still more work to do and that it is bringing Vistara's best qualities to the merger, Chandrasekaran said he is optimistic about the future of Air India. Vistara was a well-regarded full-service carrier.

Certain quarters have raised concerns about whether Vistara passengers will continue to get the same services as now since Air India, which is in the transformation phase, has been facing various service issues. However, it has been repeatedly emphasized that "Vistara in-flight experience is not going away" post-merger.

He said the merger is an essential milestone in the commitment to change Air India into a world-class global airline with an Indian heart. As per him, mergers take time to play out, and the group has moved quickly, completing the process in two years while "keeping our eye on the ultimate goal to realize AI's potential and turn it into a world-class global airline."

While mentioning various initiatives the group is taking in the aviation space, Chandrasekaran said the airline "we are strengthening today will be ready for India's coming aviation revolution." Tatas occupied loss-making Air India from the government in January 2022 and has embarked on an ambitious transformation plan since then.

He said, "2 years ago, when we took over, AI was in decline for several systematic reasons. The turnaround it needed could not be solved simply by allocating resources but by rethinking every aspect of AIs functioning from the ground up."

Stressing that change has to be meaningful, not just in matters of appearance, he said they have moved swiftly to invest in people, processes, systems, and technology in the last two years. "This merger, on the back of our Air Asia and Air India Express merger, has brought together four airlines to create one integrated airline group. We have much to look forward to.  

"From its pre-privatization size, the fleet has grown over 2.5X, and its 300 aircraft carry nearly 200,000 passengers across 100 global destinations daily," he said. Marking a prominent consolidation in the fast-growing Indian aviation space, the Air India Vistara merger has created an integrated airline partly owned by Singapore Airlines that will fly over 1,20,000 passengers daily and connect more than 90 destinations. Tatas has long been associated with the airline industry since the 1930s. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata founded an airline in 1932 and named it Tata Airlines. In 1946, the aviation division of Tata Sons was listed as Air India, and in 1953, Air India was nationalized.

"AI's new Airbus A350, which now flies to London and New York, gives us a glimpse of the future. As more new aircraft are delivered and the legacy fleet is completely refitted, a new AI will take flight," Chandrasekaran said in the post.

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