Vistara plans to use virtual, augmented reality technologies for training

Vistara plans to use virtual reality and augmented reality technologies for certain training activities for the staff, the airline's chief Vinod Kannan said on Monday and emphasised that there is always going to be a place for human intelligence as certain situations cannot be handled by bots.

The full service carrier, which will complete nine years of flying on January 9, is already using chatbots to address customer queries.

To a query about the use of artificial intelligence by the airline, its CEO Vinod Kannan said there are certain things that have already been done.

"We have a chatbot. We are trying to improve how we do some of our training. We are also looking at virtual reality, augmented reality. Some pilots (projects) we are doing on that front to see whether they can render some mock ups, especially in the engineering space to see...," he said at a briefing here.

On whether artificial intelligence applications can help in reducing staff costs, Kannan said the answer is "yes and no", and added that the carrier is trying to see how much more self-help can be provided to customers with the help of artificial intelligence.

According to him, some of the basic queries from customers such as about flight status and baggage can be answered by bots with the right data and a little bit faster as well. "There is always going to be a place for human intelligence because there are certain situations that cannot be handled by bots," he noted.

Airlines are embracing artificial intelligence technology as they look to provide more hassle-free services, improve efficiencies and also reduce costs.

Currently, Vistara has a fleet of 67 aircraft and operates around 320 flights daily.

The carrier is a joint venture between Tata group and Singapore Airlines, and is in the process of being merged with Air India.