More than 15 all-female flights operated across Air India and Air India Express on Friday, March 8, Campbell Wilson, the CEO of the Tata Group-owned airline, said. In a message to the company's employees on the occasion of International Women's Day on Friday, he also said the company welcomed the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore’s (CCCS) approval for the intended merger of Air India and Vistara.
The final competition-related approval will permit both airlines to share detailed information to optimise their schedules and contracts. The Air India-Vistara merger under a deal, wherein Singapore Airlines will acquire a 25.1% stake in Air India, was announced in November 2022. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group, which owns Air India.
On March 5, CCCS granted conditional approval for the deal after it accepted commitments from Air India, Vistara and Singapore Airlines to address possible anti-competition concerns, PTI reported.
Wilson added that the project involves more than 80 people over eight months, to "harmonise operating procedures and manuals across the 4 Tata airlines is now entering its final phase."
The Air India CEO said the alignment of procedures will expedite the safe transfer of crew and aircraft from one AOC to another. "So, it is a critical aspect of bringing our two LCCs, and our two FSCs, into the final state," he added.
In order to consolidate its airline business, the Tata Group earlier announced its plans to merge its full-service carriers (FSCs) — Air India and Vistara.
The company also shared that it would bring together the two low-cost carriers (LCCs) — Air India Express and AIX Connect (which was previously known as AirAsia India).
