In 2022, the government of India disinvested its stakes in Air India and consequently, the Tata-owned airline announced its merger with Vistara after a nine months-long dissolution process
Vistara will operate its last and final flight under its own brand name on Monday, as from November 11 onwards, the Singapore airlines will merge its operations with Air India. The company mentioned in a post on the social media platform X that as it approaches the end of one journey, it marks the beginning of another.
“As the plane ascends, so do our dreams; let’s glide toward the future, where the sky isn’t the limit, but just the beginning,” said Vistara on X on November 11.
Vistara has been in operations as a joint venture of Air India and Singapore Airlines since 2015. In 2022, the government of India disinvested its stakes in Air India and the airline was privatised. Consequently, Air India announced its merger with Vistara after a nine-month-long dissolution of the latter. Following the merger, Tata Sons will hold 73.38 per cent stake, while Singapore Airlines will hold 25.1 per cent.
“Over the past two years, the four Tata airlines have worked hard to prepare for and execute one of the most complex mergers in aviation history, consolidating from four airlines to two in the context of dramatic growth and wholesale transformation,” said CEO and MD Air India Campbell Wilson in a meeting last week.
Mentioning the change of roles post-merger, Wilson said, “As we now approach the end of that process, we are delighted to formalise a Group leadership comprising colleagues from all four antecedent airlines to drive the next phase of our journey.”
Tata-owned Air India Group announced changes to managerial positions. Vinod Kannan, chief executive officer of Vistara, who is also taking care of the role as chief integration officer for the airlines’ service merger, will continue to hold the latter position post-merger. Deepak Rajawat, chief commercial officer of Vistara after the merger, will hold the position of chief financial officer.
A brief history of Vistara’s operations in India
In 2013, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines announced of their joint airline venture Vistara. Vistara began its operations in 2015 with its first flight taking off from Delhi to Mumbai. It introduced the Indian airlines with a three-tier seating class; economy, premium economy and business. After quick expansion domestically, the airlines went international in 2019 with its first operations with a Delhi-Singapore route.