Finally, the completion of the Air India Vistara merger is close. This has been something the TATA group has been working on since taking over AI. By the end of the year India will have one major full-service carrier to connect it to the world. So here is what the final steps of this long merger process will look like and what passengers should expect.
What Are the Final Steps of the Merger on the Customer Side?
The last formal step the parent company had to go through was receiving clearance from the Indian government for Singapore Airlines’ direct investment. That’s because Singapore Airlines will maintain a stake in Air India after having been an investor in Vistara. SIA helped Vistara start up its operations in 2013, transferring expertise to the newly born airline.
On the passenger’s side of things there are two key dates in the final stage of this hugely important merger:
- September 3rd 2024 – Bookings start moving over to Air India.
- November 12th 2024 – All operations become Air India.
So, from September 3rd 2024 some bookings will move over to Air India. What that means is that, when you are booking a flight on Vistara’s website if the flight has been transferred to Air India you will be redirected to the AI site to complete the reservation. So don’t be surprised if it happens to you. Gradually the booking of all flights will be transferred over to the Air India systems.
From November 12th though, the change will be more substantial and noticeable. That’s when all flight operations will move over to Air India. Therefore, all Vistara flights will be served by the unified carriers under the AI colors. Also, the Vistara IATA code UK will no longer be applied to flights.
What Will Happen with the Loyalty Programs?
So, all frequent flyers will be moved over to the Air India Flying Returns frequent flyer program. The transition is quite simple and straight forward. Every Club Vistara point will be transferred over to Flying Returns at a 1:1 ratio. No loss of points or for any Vistara frequent flyers. Also, if you have built up points on Vistara and Air India the tally will be combined into one single account.
Looking at the tiers, things are quite simple and linear here too. Both programs have 4 levels and therefore, each level on one side will translate to the equivalent tier on the other side:
| From Club Vistara | To AI Flying Returns |
|---|---|
| Platinum | Platinum |
| Gold | Gold |
| Silver | Silver |
| Base | Red |
Therefore, frequent flyers will simply transition over to Air India maintaining their status. The only thing that could change your status in the transition, bumping you up higher, is if you have tier miles in both programs and there are enough to be upgraded. In that case with miles being consolidated into one account you’d get an upgrade to the higher tier.
The countdown has officially started. In just a few short months India will have one major full-service carrier. Hopefully, it’ll be a successful endeavour and not a repetition of what has been repeatedly the Air India story. Now the group has to tackle some huge challenges to win over market share and turn a profit out what is one of the largest aviation markets in the world.