Plenty of changes seem to be happening at two of the Tata Group’s airlines – Vistara and Air India. As Air India’s new management proposes substantial changes within the airline, its echoes seem to have reached Vistara, with the carrier’s employees wondering whether changes at AI could affect them as well. But the airline’s top management recently assured its workforce that this was not the case.

Assurances

Vistara’s top management addressed concerns of its employees regarding the future of the airline and the impact on their employment as talks about a merger with Air India gathers steam. Sources have revealed to the Indian Express that the Chairman of Vistara’s parent company Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, Bhaskar Bhat, told its employees last week at a town hall meeting that talks are ongoing between the Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines about the future of Vistara.

One of the main concerns of Vistara employees came from Air India’s recent decision to offer voluntary retirement to some of its workers to reduce the overall headcount of the airline. Belonging to a sister airline within the same group, Vistara employees were apparently unsettled about the possibility of something similar happening in their airline as well.

MSN9297 1st A321neo Vistara (1)
Photo: Airbus

But Bhat has reassured Vistara employees that the AI VRS scheme will not affect them as it was aimed at some of the older employees at Air India. He pointed out that with the average age of Vistara employees being around 27-28 years, the scheme does not apply to them.

A lot is happening

Given the developments at Air India and Vistara lately, it might not have been just AI’s recent VRS scheme that disconcerted the employees. Until quite recently, Vistara was the only full-service carrier within the Tata Group. But ever since Air India’s acquisition, conversations clubbing Vistara and Air India together have only grown louder.

Then, last month it was reported that the two airlines could, in fact, become one by the end of next year, with SIA asking for some more time to decide on the merger. This was followed by reports of senior Vistara executives making a parallel move to Air India, heading key departments such as engineering, network planning, and revenue management.

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Again, there has been no official stamp of approval from any of the key players involved in the hotly anticipated merger, but the top management has not said a firm no as well. As with any merger, a substantial churn is expected within the structures of the two joining entities, and Vistara employees may just be seeking some answers. Hopefully, the recent town hall discussion helped allay those fears.

Vistara A321 MSN9297 Delivery
Vistara's top management has assured its employees that Air India's voluntary retirement scheme does not apply to them. Photo: Airbus

Hopes are high

While the outcome of the merger (if and when that happens) will become clear with time, there’s hope that the people bringing about those changes will handle it sensibly. Vistara enjoys a unique brand identity as a full-service airline backed by respected names in the industry.

There’s also renewed hope for Air India under the Tatas. Just recently, AI pilots, while requesting for voluntary base transfer, admitted that there is mutual respect between the employees and the new management, unlike before.

For now, one can only wait and see how the process of bringing together the two airlines plays out in the coming months.

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Source: The Indian Express