Vistara kickstarts discussions to integrate staff with Air India
Vistara has started discussions on integrating its staff with Air India, even as the two Tata group carriers await regulatory approvals for merging with each other, its CEO said Monday. Vinod Kannan said there is unlikely to be any rationalisation of staff at Vistara because of this, but added not everyone may get the same position or function in Air India that they held in Vistara. Air India too is in the process of bringing various segments of its staff under one structure.
Kannan said the first rounds of integrations will happen between old and new Air India employees followed by that with Vistara and AirAsia (India). This follows the Tata group's takeover of the erstwhile state-run airline last year after a bidding process by the government. Vistara is Tata's venture with Singapore Airlines.
Its other venture-AirAsia (India)-with the eponymous Malaysian low fare carrier is now a subsidiary. The merger and integration between them, Air India and its international regional subsidiary Air India Express, will finally lead to the formation of two airline entities-full service and low cost. Kannan said he aims to get regulatory approvals for Vistara's merger with Air India by April 2024.
The actual merger process may complete in a few months post the nods. The nods will come from Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The CCI late last month sent a notice asking why it shouldn't investigate the merger.
Kannan said Vistara will respond shortly and that all regulatory processes are going «as per plan». Some areas of integration such as network and brands can only be touched after the regulatory okays, said Kannan. Kannan said the last nine months have been good for Vistara in
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