vistara

The race for Air India's CEO position has narrowed to four candidates, including two Indian executives, Nipun Aggarwal and Vinod Kannan, and two expatriates. The airline's board is set to meet soon to make a decision amidst significant financial losses and operational challenges. The delay in appointing a successor to Campbell Wilson is reportedly adding to the airline's ongoing struggles.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has reportedly resigned amid ongoing challenges. Despite successfully integrating vistara and expanding its fleet, the airline faced significant delays in its transformation due to global supply chain issues. These setbacks impacted operational performance, leading to increased pressure on service quality and punctuality.

Around 99 per cent of all eligible employees have received at least their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine till date, vistara said on Wednesday.

Admitting that vistara fell short of customers' expectations in the last few months, its Chief Executive Officer Vinod Kannan has said the airline is addressing some of the gaps on a war footing while many changes and enhancements are in the offing.

"We are not immune to the external operating environment... we are looking at how we can maximise our revenues," vistara CEO Leslie Thng said. Faced with high fuel costs and intense competition, the domestic aviation sector is facing challenging times, which is also impacting the profitability of local carriers.

vistara had expressed interest in AI divestment. Once it did bid for the airline it was clear that the airline will grow organically. The airline has been in talks with both Boeing and Airbus for fleet expansion order for a while now and the order is ready to be announced.

vistara, the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines (SIA) JV that has just turned five, will offer inflight Wi-Fi on its single aisle Airbus A321 and the wide body Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The full service carrier (FSC) will have back-of-the-seat inflight entertainment (IFE) screens on its Dreamliners, said a senior official.

vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines has finally announced its debut on international routes with the launch of flights to Singapore from Delhi and Mumbai starting August 6 and 7, respectively. The airline has announced a launch price of about Rs 21,000 on Mumbai-Singapore-Mumbai route and about Rs 22,000 on return flight from Delhi.

The United Arab Emirates will be vistara’s second international destination with the airline going to start daily flights on Mumbai-Dubai route from August 21. The full service airline will begin flying abroad on August 6 with a Delhi-Singapore daily from August 6 and Mumbai-Singapore daily a day later.

A vistara spokesperson said: "We confirm that our flight UK 733 operating Chennai-Kolkata (Monday) experienced a technical malfunction in the right engine during descent. The pilots carried out the necessary procedures and proceeded to land safely at Kolkata International Airport."

vistara will offer flexibility to passengers by allowing them to customise their holiday packages, choose the duration of holidays, their preferred cabin class for air travel, options to upgrade hotels and rooms, among others.

Club vistara (CV), the loyalty program of vistara, announced on Friday a campaign called "vistara Escapades" aimed at Club vistara members. "The campaign has been designed to offer CV members, across all tiers, curated getaways and immersive experiences," it said in a press statement today.

Full-service carrier vistara will continue with pay cuts of its staff till March but will do away with the three-day leave without pay for pilots effective from January 1. For the pilots, the carrier will implement a 10 per cent salary cut while at the same time increase their monthly base flying allowance to 40 hours from 20 hours at present, a vistara spokesperson said.

Filling a crucial gap in Indian full service carriers (FSCs) flying abroad after Jet Airways shut down this April leaving Air India — which itself faces an uncertain future — as the only desi FSC to do so, vistara will begin its international foray from next month.

Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, vistara, credited the honour to all of vistara’s employees and said, “vistara was formed to ‘make flying feel new again’, which is not just a motto, but a fundamental purpose for us centred around customers."

Some of the 50 aircraft that will join the vistara's fleet over the next three years will have just economy-class seats and the airline has factored in operational challenges that may arise from having planes with different class configurations, its CEO Leslie Thng said on Tuesday.

vistara will stop giving plastic water bottles on board its flights, in a bid to reduce plastic usage. The airline on Wednesday said it “plans to remove all individual-sized 200ml water bottles from its flights." This initiative was implemented on Delhi-Mumbai flights on July 16, and will be extended to all flights across the airline’s network over the coming weeks.

vistara on Tuesday announced it has entered into a codeshare agreement with US-based United Airlines. The agreement will allow United Airlines to book seats for its passengers on vistara flights.

vistara has entered into a partnership with Tata Group sister company Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), that operates Taj Hotels, for its loyalty program Club vistara (CV). From Monday (October 19), CV members can earn three CV points for every Rs 100 of eligible spends on stay at Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta Hotels, and amã Stays & Trails.

United Airlines has entered into a new alliance agreement with vistara that will be effective from Fall 2019 (September 23). United, which currently operates a daily non-stop from Newark to Mumbai and Delhi (the daily non-stop from Delhi is suspended till July 2 due to closure of Pakistan airspace), expands its global route network to more than 20 destinations throughout India with vistara’s growing network.

vistara is in talks with lessors about getting long-haul planes to cover a gap left by delays in Boeing 787 deliveries, chief executive Vinod Kannan said.

The move by vistara comes as carriers — both LCCs and FSCs — are trying to find new ways to generate some much-needed cash as operating costs are spiralling up and airlines are unable to hike fares accordingly due to stiff competition.

To cut down costs due to COVID-led loss of revenue, vistara has asked it's senior-most employees to go on a 3-day, no-pay mandatory leave this month. The move comes in the wake of government decision to extend the lockdown till May 3. Airlines were looking forward to staggered commencement of domestic services post the 21-day lockdown which ended on April 14.

In a first for Indian carriers, vistara will from September 18 offer inflight Wi-Fi internet connectivity onboard its Boeing 787 Dreamliners that currently operate Delhi-London route. Initially, as an introductory offer for some time the service will be free for all passengers. The airline will later announce tariff plans for the service.

India's aviation sector is bracing for the merger of vistara into Air India. To ensure a smooth transition for passengers, Air India is implementing several measures, including help desks, staff support, and a unified booking system. vistara flights will retain their existing schedules and crew but operate under a new Air India code.

Air India announces that following the merger with vistara on November 12, flights using vistara aircraft will operate under 'AI2' prefixed flight numbers. The vistara flying experience, including crew and services, will be maintained. Singapore Airlines will hold a 25.1% stake in the merged entity.

vistara will start operating a twice weekly between Delhi and Paris CDG (Charles de Gaulle) from November 7, 2021, under the “transport bubble” agreement between India and France.

A passenger fractured her right hand and another received special injuries when a vistara Mumbai-Kolkata flight on Monday encountered severe turbulence during descent. Both passengers were senior citizens. The Boeing 737 with almost 120 people on board experienced turbulence when it was at 20,000-17,000 flight level. While some passengers were injured, three of them had to be taken to hospital for check up.

vistara will temporarily stop services like onboard sales, welcome drink, hot meals and beverages in premium and economy cabins, Starbucks coffee and Turkish towels on its domestic flights when the same are allowed to resume by the government. Due to pandemic, the full-service airline will also reduce meal choices and give 200-ml water bottles to passengers.