Air India folded Vistara into itself in two years and adopted its standards (interview)

Two days after Vistara officially merged into Air India on November 12, 2024, CEO Campbell Wilson told ET in an exclusive interview that the Tata Group could now concentrate on building 'a world-class carrier with an Indian heart' without the merger's distractions. He says the new Air India's operational practices, standards and business approach will be largely modelled on Vistara — the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture that earned strong reviews in its nearly ten years — 'not just like Vistara but better.'

Wilson recalls the operational merger ran through a war room activated the Friday before the Monday-midnight November 11 cutoff, working intensively through Tuesday to transition aircraft and systems; he calls the absence of more than minor glitches 'a pleasant surprise' in a merger of this complexity. In the same reorganization, AirAsia India was folded into Air India Express for the no-frills segment — that merger completed in October while the main one was underway.

He says international airline mergers typically take five to eight years, but this one completed in just over two. Post-merger, Air India and Air India Express together operate 298 aircraft serving 55 destinations in India and 48 abroad, and Singapore Airlines — Vistara's JV partner — now holds 25.1% of Air India with board representation. Vistara practices are being adopted, including a station-manager-level officer on every shift at large airports like Delhi and Mumbai.

Merger done in just over two years (5–8 typical); 298 aircraft across Air India and Air India Express to 103 destinations; SIA took 25.1%

Tata wanted one full-service carrier with Vistara's standards rather than two brands with different service DNA.

Running the AirAsia India integration in parallel compressed years of consolidation into a single transformation program.

Embedding Singapore Airlines' practices — and its 25.1% stake — tied Air India's success to an operator known for operational excellence.

Let the better operating model set standards for the bigger name; a war room activated before cutover keeps a merger of planes, systems and people out of the news.

Wilson said full stabilisation will take time given the operational, regulatory and international dimensions, and the near-term goal is stable operations and a performance-oriented culture before the customer-experience push. The merger's smooth cutover, he says, beat the minor glitches normally expected.