Vistara, a well-known airline known for offering full-service flights, made its final journey before merging with Air India. To make this moment special, they played the popular Bollywood song Kal Ho Na Ho as the flight from Goa landed in Bengaluru on Sunday. This song choice brought back memories for passengers and crew, creating a nostalgic atmosphere.

This was Vistara’s way of saying goodbye before merging with Air India. With a 51 percent ownership by Tata Sons and a 49 percent stake from Singapore Airlines, Vistara will formally merge with Air India on November 12 to cease operating as a separate airline.

In an Instagram post, Vistara shared a heartfelt message for its loyal fliers, stating, “As the plane ascends, so do our dreams; let’s glide towards the future, where the sky isn’t the limit, but just the beginning.”

Why is Vistara merging with Air India?

The merger of Vistara and Air India, announced by Singapore Airlines in November 2022, aims to create a stronger airline that can compete better in both Indian and international markets. This new airline will combine the services of both airlines to become a top choice for high-quality travel, meeting international standards and supporting India’s rapidly growing aviation industry.

The merger faced some problems. A shortage of pilots caused many flight cancellations, and Vistara’s crew protested against the plan to match their salaries with Air India’s, showing how hard it is to align work and pay structures between the two airlines. Despite these issues, the merger will be finalised on Monday. Singapore Airlines will now own 25.1% of the merged Air India, and it will also invest ₹3,194.5 crore in the airline, securing its part in the larger company.

How will the transition be managed for Vistara fliers?

To make the change easy for Vistara passengers, Air India has added extra help at important spots. At airports, there will be help desks and support staff wearing Air India x Vistara t-shirts to assist passengers. These staff members will work with airport security to guide Vistara ticket holders to the right Air India help desks. Information will also be shared on self-service kiosks, and soon, Vistara’s ticketing and check-in areas will fully become part of Air India’s services.

Vistara's planes will now have a special four-digit Air India code starting with “2” to show they’re part of the new, combined airline. In the past few months, 2,70,000 Vistara customers have already been moved over to Air India, and more than 4.5 million members of Vistara’s loyalty program are being shifted to Air India’s loyalty system. If customers call Vistara’s support centre, they’ll be automatically connected to Air India staff, so they can keep getting help without any changes.

The new combined airline will now have over 200 planes and will fly to 90 places within India and around the world. Air India is improving its smaller, narrow-body planes by adding new ones and updating older ones with better interiors, even bringing Vistara’s quality food to Air India flights. For longer international flights, Air India has added six large A350 planes, now flying between important cities like Delhi and London and Delhi and New York.

In the first month after the merger, around 1,15,000 passengers with pre-merger Vistara tickets are expected to fly on the unified airline.

To make the transition smooth, Vistara’s CEO, Vinod Kanan, who also managed the merger, will continue in this role after the merger and report directly to Air India’s CEO, Campbell Wilson. Deepak Rajawat, Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer, will now become the Chief Financial Officer at Air India Express, which is Air India’s budget airline. Rajawat will also help Air India Group’s CFO, Sanjay Sharma, with important projects. At the same time, Vikas Agarwal, who was CFO at Air India Express, will take on a new role within Air India.

Hamish Maxwell, who was Vistara’s Senior Vice President for Flight Operations, will now advise Air India Express. Pushpinder Singh, the Chief Operations Officer of Air India Express, will go back to his job as a pilot. Other changes include Deepa Chadha and Vinod Bhatt from Vistara's senior team, who will take up new roles in other Tata Group companies. Niyant Maru, Vistara’s CFO, will retire after completing his role in the merger. The senior management roles and reporting structure at Air India Group will stay the same.

The journey of Vistara in the Indian skies

Vistara, which started on January 9, 2015, became known for its excellent food and service, attracting many loyal customers. The airline was created after India allowed foreign airlines to own up to 49% of domestic carriers. This led to the creation of Vistara, AirAsia India, and Jet Airways' partnership with Etihad. However, with Vistara leaving, Air India is now the only full-service airline in India, after the decline of other airlines like Jet Airways, Kingfisher, and Air Sahara over the past 20 years.

Public reaction

The end of Vistara has made many of its loyal customers feel emotional. On social media, there are many farewell messages and photos from passengers remembering their good experiences with the airline. Vistara was known for its excellent service and focus on customer comfort, setting a high standard in Indian aviation that people will miss.