NEW DELHI:
Vistara
CEO
Vinod Kannan
could be headed back to
Singapore Airlines
(SIA) as
Tata Group
is all set to merge this full service carrier (FSC) into
Air India
before the year end, say sources. SIA will have 25.1% stake in the merged AI.
The merged Vistara-AI Air India is likely to see AI current management team in most key positions. However, a senior AI official said the management structure for the merged entity is yet to be finalised.
Kannan, who is among the key players credited with Vistara’s passenger-friendly image, is a SIA veteran who had joined the mega southeast Asian carrier in 2001. Just over a decade back Tata and SIA decided to create a JV FSC in India, Vistara, which started flying in Jan 2015. Kannan was sent on secondment to Vistara in June 2019, when he was chief commercial officer Scoot (SIA LCC) and before that he was SIA VP. “He is likely to return to Singapore Airlines now as Vistara sunsets,” say sources.
AI is now facing increasing restiveness from passengers 2.5 years after the Tata takeover on several fronts but especially these two: poor onboard experience on old planes that received no upkeep during Maharaja’s PSU years and a tacky ontime performance. Despite very high fares (especially on international routes, and those too medium to long hauls), passengers are not beginning to feel shortchanged. Vistara was seemingly better of the two Tata Group full service carriers (other being AI) strictly from a passenger perspective and that will be gone before the year end.
“While AI turnaround is the most challenging exercise in contemporary aviation, it has to improve quickly otherwise passengers will be doubly unhappy with Vistara being disbanded when AI still had a very long way to go,” said multiple stakeholders of AI.
