When Vistara’s flight UK 819 left boarding gate 39A at Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 Monday afternoon headed for Bengaluru, it had on board a very special passenger — the airline’s 50 millionth passenger.
A moment of celebration for an airline that is checking all the boxes, winning best airline awards as well as high ratings from passengers online and off — and yet could cease to exist in a few months time.
For this ‘sunset airline’, as some are vaunt to describe it, future is, at best, uncertain — since the takeover of state-run airline Air India by its bosses, the Tatas, it was announced late last year that Vistara will be merged into Air India to become the Tata group’s flagship full-service carrier, a process that is set to be complete within coming March.
However, a notice issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI, India’s anti-monopoly body) this weekend could pour cold water over Bombay House’s plans — according to reports, CCI has issued a show cause notice to the Tata Group to respond within 30 days on why an investigation into the proposed merger not be conducted.
The CCI has a point — the dominance of low-cost carrier Indigo on one side (it presently controls more than 60 per cent of the domestic aviation market) and the Tata bouquet of four airlines (Air India and Vistara which are to be merged; Air India Express and AirAsia India which are to be merged, respectively) on the other side is perhaps not really good news for the domestic flyer who’s been lamenting sky rocketing air fares for some time now. In May, Air India had a 9.4 per cent market share to Vistara's 9 per cent.
In addition, Air India and Vistara are the only two full-service domestic carriers in the country right now, and their merger would mean there would be essentially one single, monopoly carrier as far as full-fledged domestic airlines are considered, with Jet Airways revival still remaining postponed and seemingly uncertain for the time being.
There is also the question of Singapore Airlines (SIA), Tata’s 49 per cent joint venture partner in Vistara. As per the terms of the merger made public, SIA will have a 26 per cent stake in the new merged-entity.
While the uncertainty over the airline’s future persists, the top brass at its Gurugram headquarters seem to believe in partying like it’s the last night of their lives. Vinod Kannan, CEO, remained gung-ho and future-focussed when he said on Monday, “As we continue our journey, we are resolute in our commitment to deliver exceptional service and memorable experience to our customers.” The airline has, in recent weeks, announced additional codeshares with the likes of Lufthansa, which adds 12 European destinations to its flight plan. It also plans to introduce flights to Bali from Delhi from next month onward.
Meanwhile, the awards it has notched up keep on piling up, even as Air India’s cup of woes run over, from peeing incidents to defecation and what not. Last fortnight, Vistara moved up four notches to No.16 in the Skytrax list of the world’s best airlines — and the only Indian airline in the top 20. Will all this glory be gone too soon?
