'We want to carry spirit of Vistara into merged entity'
Financial Express Mumbai|July 12, 2023
INTERVIEW: VINOD KANNAN, CEO, Vistara | Full-service carrier Vistara, a joint venture of the Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, will soon be merged with Air India, putting an end to the brand's eight-year journey. Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara, talks to Akanksha Nagar about the challenges any merger throws up and why the airline continues to add routes and aircraft as it prepares to devolve into another brand. Edited excerpts:
Akanksha Nagar
'We want to carry spirit of Vistara into merged entity'

How would you sum up Vistara's eight-year journey and what values would you like the company to uphold as it prepares to merge with Air India?

We started with just two aircraft and right now, we have a fleet of 61 aircraft and will hit a fleet of 70 by March-April 2024. With a team of 5,500 staff members, we operate in 32 domestic and 15 international destinations and last week, hit a milestone of carrying 50 million passengers. Looking forward, what we want to carry into the merged entity is the spirit that we have built in the company, the very thought process of customer centricity, and how we approach our interactions with customers. The merger right now is subject to various approvals - hence we still operate independently, which is why recently Vistara also announced additional routes, including flights (in June) between Mumbai and London. As a brand, we continue to invest in various aspects of products and services, for instance, in-flight live TV screening or WiFi for connectivity-things that are relevant and meaningful for the customers that will continue even after the merger.

So why are you continuing to add routes and aircraft?

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