As Vistara prepares to fly off into the sunset, not all its
passengers are happy that an airline rated as India’s best will be
swallowed up by an airline that has been sometimes rated as India’s
worst – national carrier Air India.
On X, one disgruntled Vistara fan wrote that seeing his favourite
airline disappear on 12 November “felt like meeting for the last time
your girlfriend who is getting married on Nov 12”.
To which Vistara replied, “But we can still be friends, ya”.
Another Vistara fan wrote, “They created a foolproof, uncancellable,
and beloved brand in a category that is the toughest in which to achieve
any sort of love or loyalty.”
Others have questioned the wisdom of folding Vistara – jointly owned by Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines – into Air India.
Brand consultant Santosh Desai, writing in Money Control, offered,
“Here we have a really popular and liked brand being sacrificed at the
altar of another, which is old, frayed around the edges, and one that is
difficult to change quickly. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to continue
with both brands?
“Even in the few years since its takeover by the Tatas, the brand
(Air India) is struggling. To be sure, improvements have been made, new
aircrafts are being added, and the food is getting some attention, but
none of these have moved the needle significantly enough.
“To be fair, it is not easy for such a large organisation with such a
long history to turn smartly on its heels and do an about turn. Change
is going to be a long and arduous process, and no easy short cuts are
available.
“That makes this particular decision even trickier than it would have been otherwise,” Desai wrote.
The merger between Vistara and Air India is nearing completion, with
Vistara scheduled to cease operations on 11 November. This follows the
Indian government’s approval of Singapore Airlines’ foreign direct
investment in the Air India Group.