Vistara And Air India Could Merge Operations By 2025

There’s still some time before we can see Air India and Vistara become one operationally. The two full-service carriers under the Tata Group have been busy getting all the required approvals from various authorities, but their operational merger could still take about a year or more, according to Vistara’s CEO.

Merger likely by 2025

The merger process of Air India and Vistara is moving along, and the two carriers are expecting to get all the necessary approvals this year. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the merger plan last year, but several other regulatory approvals are still required.

Vistara’s Chief Executive Officer Vinod Kannan has revealed that the first few months of 2024 will be spent getting the necessary nods from various authorities, and merging the operations will follow. He said,

“We believe all the approvals from a legal perspective should come through sometime in the first half of this year. From an operational perspective, we are working with authorities to see how we can operationalise this (merger). The airline is looking at this year or early next year as the operational merger, or it could stretch through the middle of next year.”

The two airlines were destined to unite after the Tata Group took over Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express. The Tatas will eventually operate two airlines to streamline their aviation business – a full-service carrier (after merging Air India and Vistara) and a low-cost airline (with the merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India).

Long process

As is the case with any two big airlines coming together, the entire process takes time, and most initial deadlines are almost always pushed to a later date. Last year, the CCI issued a show-cause notice to the two airlines after they requested to fast-track the process. Eventually, the approval came through in September.

Photo: Rahul Sapra | Shutterstock

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While the paperwork for approvals and legal formalities is underway, the significant task of bringing together the operations and workforce of the two airlines will also need to be done. The merger will see the end of the Vistara brand, and the new airline will be known as Air India only. Many employees in Vistara had earlier voiced their concern about moving to a new airline, but Kannan assured them there would be ample opportunities in the new setup. He said,

“The assurance (to Vistara staff) is that we will find a place for you. It may not be like-to-like in the same title and same designation etc., but it will be something that you will be comfortable with.”

Separate operations for now

Meanwhile, both Air India and Vistara are expanding their reach separately. Vistara is hopeful that it will receive its final Boeing 787 Dreamliner by April this year, allowing it to add capacity on several long-haul routes.

Photo: Abdul N Quraishi – Abs | Shutterstock

Air India, too, has been aggressively adding new planes to its fleet and has started several new flights both domestically and internationally, including to the US, where it might add several new destinations as well.

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