Vistara to end services: Looking back at the airline’s 3,595-day journey

As Singapore Airlines informed the Singapore Stock Exchange about receiving approvals for foreign direct investment (FDI) into Air India, the last of the hurdles for the merger of Vistara with Air India were crossed. Social media teams published the eventual merger message, followed by communication to stakeholders by the airline on the date of the merger. Starting November 12, 2024, a unified airline will be in operation and Vistara, the iconic brand which Tata Group and Singapore Airlines joint venture set up, will be history. Vistara is quite the opposite of Tata Group’s other Joint Venture — AirAsia India. The interesting journey will end after 3,595 days of operations and Vistara will join the likes of Air Sahara and Air Deccan, which ended their journey with a merger. The former merged with Jet Airways, while the latter merged with Kingfisher Airlines.
Also read: Vistara-Air India merger: What happens to your flight status, tickets and PNR number after September 3?
The airline has been loved by passengers and often compared to the haydays of flying with the likes of Kingfisher Airlines around. The airline in its history, saw the fall of Jet Airways, made the most of it by inducting B737s and ended up using those to launch international services. This also created a gap in its three-class model, with the airline having three-class, dual-class and mono- class aircraft in its fleet, a rarity for an airline which was being positioned as a luxury carrier.
Vistara became the first airline to offer Premium Economy in Indian skies. This was not its only first. The airline also became the first in India to offer a flatbed experience on narrowbody aircraft when it inducted its A321neo, meant to fly to regional international routes.
Additionally, the airline became the first in India to induct the 787-9 variant of the Dreamliner and the A321LR. It is currently the only airline to operate these types in India. Even IndiGo, which has XLRs on order, has not yet opted for the A321LR. Vistara also came up with a retro livery for one of its aircraft, as a tribute to JRD Tata. Special liveries have been around but a retro claimed the legacy of JRD when Air India wasn’t on the radar for the Tatas, at least publicly.
Also Read: Vistara-Air India merger progresses after Singapore Airlines gets FDI nod from India
The airline placed an order for 56 aircraft in 2018, which included Boeing Dreamliner and Airbus narrowbody aircraft. Eventually, it became the first airline in India to transition from legacy aircraft to an all-modern fleet comprising the Airbus ‘neo’ family for its narrowbody operations. The airline also ended up taking a few planes from the open market and for a brief period, operated the B737NG aircraft, which earlier operated for Jet Airways.
With the National Civil Aviation Policy of 2016 coming into force and doing away with the five-year rule for flying international, Vistara started international services in August 2019, a few months ahead of its fifth anniversary, becoming the first airline to benefit from the change in policy.
The airline operated over 5 lakh flights from inception until the end of July. It would add another 30,000 flights by the time it retires in early November. At the end of July, the airline was less than a lakh short of carrying seven crore passengers since inception. It could carry close to 50 lakh more passengers till it ceases to exist in the next few months.
The airline, which claimed to have researched the market well before entering with a luxurious configuration, had to undergo a reconfiguration very early in the cycle and move from 16 Business, 36 Premium Economy and 96 Economy seats on the A320 family aircraft to 8 Business, 24 Premium Economy and 126 Economy. It further underwent a reconfiguration to add a row in Economy class and offer a total of 132 economy class seats, taking up the total seats in the plane to 164. Air India’s three-class seating for its new planes is based on this number, which helps easier integration between the two. Clearly, cutting the Business segment by half and Premium Economy by one-third during not-so-difficult times for the economy is an indicator of initial estimations having gone wrong.
Also Read: Air India-Vistara merger: NCLT approval paves way for India’s largest international carrier backed by Tata
If there is one thing which will eternally remain the thorn, it would be the lack of profits. The airline did record at least one quarter where it saw operational profits but having formed in 2013 and started flying in 2015, the airline failed to record profits in nearly a decade of its existence. The same parent, but in a different holding percentage, will be running Air India.
When it was time to start widebody operations, the pandemic struck and that meant that it ended up operating under the air bubble arrangement. This also meant that it got slots to operate to London Heathrow, which would have otherwise been an impossible task. Overall, it became an airline of choice for foreign carriers to collaborate and partner. If there is one legacy that the airline will leave behind, it probably will be getting back the mojo around food in Indian skies, where over 60 per cent of the market is controlled by IndiGo and hot food is not an option. Does Air India carry over this legacy? We will know in 2025.