Vistara started doing its wing waves a few days ago. The airline stopped taking bookings on September 3, and will be merged with Air India in two months.
A joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA), Vistara was the only Indian airline to make it to the Top 20 list of World's Best Airlines this year. But there was little reason for it to continue as a separate entity after Tata bought back Air India from the government in October 2021. It did not make sense for one company to run two full-service airlines, especially with the regulatory approval for SIA taking 26 per cent stake in Air India coming through some time ago.
But the reality in the sky is that there is a world of difference in the service quality offered by Air India and Vistara. "It is baffling that the civil aviation ministry allowed the merger of a modern, well-functioning airline like Vistara with an outdated one and has approved Tata's decision to rebrand it as Air India," commented Kapil Chopra, founder of EazyDiner and The Postcard group of hotels and former president of The Oberoi group of hotels.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE....
When Air India returned to the Tata fold, the expectation was that it would reclaim the lost glory as one of the finest in the world. Instead, it took a turn for the worse. "If people were expecting miracles within a year, that is an impossible task. But now almost three years are over, it is time to show and demonstrate that there have been significant improvements in the operation of the airline," said Sidharath Kapur, former executive director of GMR Airports and former CEO of Adani Airports. "The honeymoon period is over. People are now expecting more."
THE PROBLEM WITH THE MIDAS TOUCH
Denne historien er fra September 22, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra September 22, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Chase For The Mace
The next three years throw up a gamut of challenges for Indian cricket; winning the World Test Championship is the most important
Two-horse race
Can the NC-Congress alliance reshape the future of Jammu and Kashmir?
Man-eaters don't spare women
Critics say Narendra Modi’s decade-long rule has been one of jobless growth. Factories produced more, companies earned more, owners profited more, the government earned more; but fewer hands were hired, or those who were hired got work for fewer days. Putting the last two together, economists said the Indian economy generated fewer ‘man-days’.
Decolonising the mindset
The vision of a Viksit Bharat hinges on India T breaking from the shackles of a colonial mindset and embodying the freedom of being unapologetically Indian. The laws of any nation are the cornerstone of its growth. The legal system offers the stability and adaptability essential for a country to thrive. The laws must be simple to understand and specific in their consequence.
The making of India's Mr Difficult Words
When my publishers at Aleph invited me to put together a book on words and language, I hesitated for a brief moment.
Couture's creepy corridors
If one is spending a summer in New York, any summer in New York, an absolute must-do is to spend an afternoon at the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the edge of Central Park, just gawking in gobsmacked awe at the annual fashion exhibition the museum’s Costume Institute puts together.
Stree 2 has given us hope
The unprecedented success of Stree 2 is the best news we have had in the recent times and with an unabashedly feminist agenda, has comprehensively out-performed Sandeep Reddy Vanga's toxic masculine star-studded Animal at the box office is (to me, at least) kind of the cinematic equivalent of Awadhesh Prasad winning Ayodhya-it redeems my faith in the inherent decency of Indians.
BRANDS BEYOND RAMPS
Whether through carpets, fragrances or home interiors, Indian couturiers are defying their own limits
RESERVOIR OF WORRIES
India has a robust dam management systém on paper, but inadequate maintenance and climate change pose serious threats
INTER-STATE ISSUES HAVE NO EFFECT ON DAM SAFETY
INTERVIEW: KUSHVINDER VOHRA INTERVIEW Chairman, Central Water Commission
