Vistara to add 10 aircraft and 1,000 passengers this fiscal year; shelving plans to fly to the United States

According to a senior official, full-service airline Vistara aims to add 10 aircraft and recruit more than 1,000 personnel in the current fiscal year, but has scrapped plans to fly to the United States. Vistara, which is poised to combine with Air India, now operates 61 planes and employs approximately 5,200 people. With the demise of Go First, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said this week that there is a ready pool of personnel, particularly pilots and cabin crew members.

“Just like Air India and IndiGo, we also recruited them. We wanted to make sure that we took the right number, the right people. We went through the usual process that every airline will do. Then, there is the entire job market for the cabin crew where freshers are coming in. We still attract good talent,” he told PTI.

The airline has hired around 50 pilots from Go First. Kannan elaborated on Vistara’s recruiting goals, stating that the airline will add a total of 10 planes and would need around 1,000 employees this fiscal year. Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has 61 planes in its fleet, with no jets on the ground, he noted. 

“We need around 1,000 staff… till the end of this financial year… out of 10 aircraft, 1 has come and 9 more have to come, out of which 3 are wide-bodies. The rest are A320s,” he said.

There are three owned and one leased wide-body aircraft in the fleet. Against the background of the impending merger process with Air India, after which the Vistara brand would cease to exist, Kannan said that the individuals who developed the Vistara brand will remain there, and it is always nice to go on a strong note. The airline has hired around 50 pilots from Go First. 

Kannan said the airline has decided not to fly to the US as planned earlier. “The main reason is that to fly to the US, I need a lot of aircraft. One single daily operation from India to the US will need at least three aircraft. I have to wait for three aircraft to come and I don’t know if it will be spaced out. By the time it will start, the integration (will be) happening,” he noted.

Kannan elaborated on Vistara’s recruiting goals, stating that the airline will add a total of 10 planes and would need around 1,000 employees this fiscal year. Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has 61 planes in its fleet, with no jets on the ground, he noted. There are three owned and one leased wide-body aircraft in the fleet. Against the background of the impending merger process with Air India, after which the Vistara brand would cease to exist, Kannan said that the individuals who developed the Vistara brand will remain there, and it is always nice to go on a strong note.

Regarding airfares, the Vistara CEO said that it is always a function of supply and demand.

“Airfares are sky high because of a few reasons. One is Go First as on routes they were operating, capacity has come down; secondly, the seasonality demand, in May, all the destinations Go First used to fly are super peak… as much as we want, capacity has not come back to the same extent as what Go First has taken away.”

The civil aviation ministry requested airlines earlier this week to establish a method to guarantee acceptable ticket pricing amid a rise in costs on specific routes.