Air India, Vistara Begin Integration Process, Merging Likely To Be Completed By March 2024: Report

Air India-Vistara Merger Latest News: The whole merging process is expected to be completed by March next year. Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Group and SIA.

Air India-Vistara Merger Latest News: Air India and Vistara airlines have started the integration process to expedite the merging, a report by The Economic Times (ET) said on Monday. New Senior executives from both airlines along with consultancy major Deloitte have initiated the merger process and the AZB Partners is working on regulatory compliance.

The merger of the two airlines needs approvals from competition regulators of countries where both the airlines operate, the report added.

Sources closely following the development told the ET that the team managers and members reporting to the management directly have already been assessed and in the next few weeks, the next level of employees will be assessed for their prospective roles.

Managerial role to be assessed

The sources also added that since the two airlines had executives in the same role, it needs to be carefully assessed on who will be given leadership or managerial role.

Notably, the merger process of Vistara with Air India was announced by Singapore Airlines (SIA) last year and the Tata Group. In the merging entity, the SIA will hold a 25.1 per cent stake and the process is expected to be completed by March next year. Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Group and SIA.

Singapore Airlines on Air India-Vistara Merger

The SIA in a statement earlier had said that it intends to fully fund this investment with its internal cash resources, which stood at S$17.5 billion as of 30 September 2022. “SIA and Tata have also agreed to participate in additional capital injections, if required, to fund the growth and operations of the enlarged Air India in FY2022/23 and FY2023/24,” it added.

The report claimed that the merging process between the two airlines is likely to be a smooth affair because Air India has inducted many former Vistara employees and, more importantly, CEO and MD Campbell Wilson has worked with both SIA and its low-cost carrier Scoot.

In another development, Air India recently placed a mega order for 470 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus as it plans to become a dominant player in the global market.