Air India and Vistara CEOs to brief staff on merger plans

New Delhi: The chiefs of Air India and Vistara will address staff on May 13 on the proposed merger of the two airlines, according to officials. 

The merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal, wherein Singapore Airlines will acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, was announced in November 2022. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group.

The townhall meeting will be held in the phygital mode and employees from Air India and Vistara will be present. The meeting will be addressed by Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson and Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, one of the officials said on Friday.

Kannan is also the Chief Integration Officer for the proposed merger.

One of the officials said the meeting is expected to focus on the broad aspects and help provide an overall picture about the merger to the staff.

Air India has around 17,000 people and Vistara has about 6,500 employees.

"We expect to complete merger in a smooth manner," Kannan told PTI on April 5.

The merger is awaiting nod from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in India.

In March this year, Singapore's competition regulator CCCS gave a conditional nod for the proposed merger. In September 2023, the deal received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), subject to certain conditions.

-B