Page 3 - Vistara Airlines

Vistara's ultimatum to pilots: Accept new salary structure by EOD

Pilots to lose slot on 'upgrade sequence list' if they fail to sign contract by Friday

Non-availability of pilots impact flight operations of Vistara: Report

Flight operations of Vistara were impacted at Delhi and Mumbai airports, mainly due to the non-availability of pilots, according to industry sources. Some flights were cancelled and many were delayed at the two airports on Wednesday, they said. Specific details could not be immediately ascertained and there was no comment from Vistara. The full-service carrier operates more than 300 flights daily with a fleet of 67 planes. The sources said some pilots reported sick which impacted the schedule. Also, there are concerns among pilots about the new salary structure being implemented at the airline, which will be similar to that of Air India. The sources also claimed that the situation with respect to pilots has been aggravated by the seasonal phenomenon of crew exhausting their sick leaves as the financial year is coming to a close. According to the sources, in recent times, traffic congestion at the Mumbai airport and weather disruptions have also resulted in flight delays and ...

'Hope airfares come to right sweet spot,' says Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan

Emphasising that airfare is a function of supply and demand, full-service carrier Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan has expressed hope that ticket prices will come to the "right sweet spot where customers will travel and airlines can make money". Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, currently, operates around 320 flights daily. To a query on concerns in certain quarters about air ticket prices going irrationally high, the airline CEO said the thing with airfares is that people complain when it goes high and no one compliments when it goes down. "There are times in the year due to seasonality...our fares in 2023 were even lower than 2022," he noted. During an interaction with PTI, Kannan said that certain measures are in place to ensure that airfares are not irrational, especially when there are natural calamities or when something unfortunate happens. In such situations, "we want to make sure that it is not a price-gouging opportunity," he said. "If you

Premium economy class here to stay, more passengers choosing it: Vistara

As it looks to consolidate its position in the full service carrier space, merger-bound Vistara has said the premium economy class is here to stay and there has been a surge in the number of passengers opting for these seats. Vistara, a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, was the first to introduce premium economy class in India. It operates around 320 flights daily on domestic and international routes with a fleet of 67 planes, and three more aircraft will be inducted by April this year. Currently, the airline offers premium economy class in the three aircraft models operated by it -- Airbus 320 neo, Airbus 321 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Vistara's Chief Commercial Officer Deepak Rajawat told PTI that the premium economy class is here to stay. "We have seen a surge in passengers picking up tickets on the premium economy (class). There is an uptick year-over-year," he said and added that premium economy is a differentiation that the airline has created in ...

Vistara expects all legal approvals for merger with A-I in 1st half of 2024

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan on Monday said all legal approvals for its proposed merger with Air India are expected to be in place in the first half of 2024. In November 2022, Tata group announced the merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal wherein Singapore Airlines will also acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. At a briefing here, Kannan said the legal approvals for the merger are expected by the middle of 2024 and the operational merger is anticipated by early or middle of next year. He also said that all competition approvals are expected in the current quarter ending March. On September 1, 2023, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger. Currently, Vistara has 67 planes in its fleet. The airline is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines.

Full-service carrier Vistara confident of receiving Boeing 787 order by Apr

Indian full-service air carrier Vistara said on Monday it was confident of receiving its last 787 wide-body jet from Boeing by March or April

Air India-Vistara merger remains on course, says Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines on Tuesday said the proposed merger of Air India and Vistara "remains on course" and is subject to approvals from regulators as well as competition authorities in several jurisdictions. Once the merger is complete, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will have a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. Currently, Singapore Airlines owns a 49 per cent shareholding in Vistara and the remaining 51 per cent stake is with the Tata Group. "The proposed merger of Air India and Vistara remains on course, with the Competition Commission of India approving the transaction in September 2023. "It remains subject to foreign direct investment approval, as well as approvals from other regulators and competition authorities in several jurisdictions including those from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Civil Aviation, and National Company Law Tribunal, and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore," SIA Group said in a release on Tuesday. While announcing the .

AI, Singapore Airlines to maintain minimum capacity on certain routes

Air India and Singapore Airlines will ensure minimum capacity on various domestic and international routes, including Delhi-Sydney and Delhi-Paris, as part of commitments made to fair trade regulator CCI to address possible competition concerns arising out of the Vistara merger. Competition Commission of India (CCI), on September 1, approved the proposed merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal wherein Singapore Airlines will also acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. Certain competition concerns due to the proposed merger were raised by the watchdog and to address them, the airlines have given certain commitments with respect to the merger. As per the commitments, Air India has voluntarily offered to maintain "minimum capacity/ supply level" on certain overlapping O&D (Origin & Destination) domestic and overseas routes. They are Bhubaneshwar-Delhi, Bengaluru-Guwahati, Cochin-Delhi, Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram, Amritsar-Delhi, Bhubaneshwar-Mumbai and Bengaluru-Delhi in

Air India to invest $200 million towards training its pilots, cabin crew

The airline will partner with plane manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to train its staff

CCI approves Air India-Vistara merger, subject to certain conditions

CCI has not issued an order on this matter yet. As per official sources, it is expected to issue an order after one month

Airlines should start allowing extra luggage in cargo to entice flyers

As passengers whip out their frequent-flyer cards for the first time in years, many have found that points expired or travel patterns changed. Securing these ought to be a major goal of airlines

As Tata reimagines Air India brand, its Maharaja mascot may become history

FutureBrand, a London-based design and branding consultancy firm will rework Air India's identity as the carrier aspires to compete against Emirates and Singapore Airlines

Decoded: What is the difference between low-cost and full-service airlines?

While the difference in ticket prices is obvious between the two kinds of carriers, there are other differences too. Read more to find out

Air India, Vistara merger under lens as CCI looks for impact on competition

People in the know said that while CCI's scrutiny is unlikely to have any material impact on the business of the airlines, it could affect the timeline of the merger

Air India making changes to its ground staff ops to increase productivity

The structural changes are aimed at putting performance and productivity at the centre of Air India's operations

Vistara to add 10 planes, 1,000 people this FY; shelves plan to fly to US

Full service carrier Vistara expects to add a total of 10 planes as well as hire more than 1,000 people in the current financial year and has shelved plans to fly to the US, according to a top executive. Currently, Vistara, which is set to be merged with Air India, has a fleet of 61 aircraft and a staff strength of over 5,200. During an interaction here this week, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said there has been a ready pool of talent, especially pilots and cabin crew members, with the collapse of Go First. "Just like Air India and IndiGo, we also recruited them. We wanted to make sure that we took the right number, right people. We went through the usual process that every airline will do. Then, there is the entire job market for the cabin crew where freshers are coming in. We still attract good talent," he told PTI. Around 50 pilots from Go First have been recruited by the airline. Elaborating on Vistara's hiring plans, Kannan said the airline would add a total of 10 aircraft and wo

Domestic passenger traffic grows 51.7% on YoY basis; IndiGo gains mkt share

The domestic airlines carried a total of 37.5 million passengers between January-March 2023 as compared to 24.7 million passengers during the corresponding period in the last year

Taxi to Take Off: Air India says Phase 1 of its transformation complete

First phase focused on addressing legacy issues, strengthening fleet, upgrading systems and hiring

British Airways sees strong India demand, adds third flight from Mumbai

UK airline adding capacity for 'incredibly important market' in face of increased competition

TCS, Tata Coffee: 5 Tata Group stocks that you can bet on for a good return

With in the Tata Group space, except for Indian Hotels, others like TCS, Tata Motors, Trent and Tata Coffee seem poised for a buoyant rally in the near term.