Vistara is the only Indian airline in World Top 20. The CEO reveals how they made it

Vistara has made it to the World's Top 20 airlines for the year 2022, and it is the only Indian airline on the list. At home in India, Vistara anyway is the top choice among travellers, after the low-cost carrier Indigo. We sat down for a chat with Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan.

The aviation industry has been on a steady rise in India, by 12% over the last few years. And Vistara looks like a promising contender among all airlines in the country. 

A recent survey by Skytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site, has named Vistara as one of the Top 20 airlines in the world. At Number 20, Vistara is the only Indian airline to be on the Top 20 list.

The survey: Skytrax conducted a survey on more than 14 million flyers in more than 100 countries between September 2021 and August 2022 to find out the world's current favourite airline. The world's favourite airline is Qatar, followed by Singapore Airlines (which also owns a 49% stake in Vistara). 

Vistara gets the 20th spot on the list; the only Indian airline to make the cut. Apart from being in the Top 20, Vistara was also awarded the Best Airline in India and Southern Asia and Best Airline Staff Service in India and Southern Asia. 

Qatar Airlines, meanwhile, has received the top prize more than 7 times since 1999.

Check out the full list:

DailyO sat down for a chat with Vinod Kannan, the CEO of Vistara Airlines.

“It has been an honour to be a part of this list, as we have been chosen through public voting.”

Vistara topping the domestic charts

Apart from being the only Indian airline to be on the list of the World Top 20; Vistara, in July 2022, emerged as the second biggest airline in India by domestic market share (10.4%), according to the DGCA. 

Here is what the domestic aviation market looks like: 

Vistara's limitless expanse: Founded in 2013, Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited, both companies known for their hospitality and CSR work. Tata Sons holds a 51% stake in the partnership and Singapore Airlines Limited owns 49%. 

According to Vistara's website, its name is derived from the Sanskrit word 'vistaar' which means 'a limitless expanse'.

On January 9, 2015, Vistara flew its first flight from Delhi to Mumbai. In a short span of time, Vistara has rapidly expanded its footprint, both in terms of network and service proposition. Today, Vistara connects 40 destinations in and outside of India, and operates over 250 flights a day. 

The Vistara fleet: Vistara owns 53 aircraft in total. The types include:
 

What is Vistara doing differently? CEO Vinod Kannan tells DailyO that during the company's launch, they wanted to focus on a few things. The first was the product and the services they offer. For him, consumer experience is very important and the company has spent a huge chunk of money to make its consumer services better than others in the competition.

In the Indian market, where consumers keep discounts and cheap air tickets above anything else, Vistara has been able to tap into the market by creating and maintaining a loyal consumer base and providing high-end services. Here are some of them: 

• Onboard, Vistara offers a unique three-class configuration featuring economy, business, and premium economy cabins (other Indian airlines do not have similar economy cabins). 
• The seats of both economy and business class are some of the most comfortable in the market. The economy seats, for example, have folding headrests and soft leather material for added comfort.
   

• Complimentary onboard meals: Vistara's complimentary meals are catered by Taj SATS (the caterer for Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways). The only other Indian airline that caters free meals is Air India (limited flights). 

• Also, over the last few years, Vistara has implemented a number of product and service upgrades, including onboard WiFi, gate-to-gate service, and fully flat beds in Airbus A321neo and Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft, among others.

Jet Airways collapse is Vistara's gain? There are two kinds of airlines:

• Low-cost carriers (the airlines that provide facilities for purchasing meals and beverages on flights), and
• Full-services airlines (the airlines that offer in-flight meals and beverages).

After the collapse of Jet Airways in 2019, Vistara and Air India were the only remaining full-service airlines. Remember, this was before the Tatas took over Air India, at a time when the flag carrier was going through a tumultuous phase, and its reputation had taken a hit. That left people looking at full-service carriers with the only option: Vistara.

Percentage of flyers per airline:

Vistara then also leased 9 of Jet Airways' 737-800s and began its international operations flying these aircraft to Singapore. When asked about the collapse of Jet Airways, Vinod says, "It is never good to see other organisations falling, no matter who they are, even if they are our competition. But, the practical reality is that in terms of full services, we do remain the only organisation after Jet Airways to provide all the services, including free meals, and baggage apart from Air India."

BUT

Even though Vistara has its A-game on at the moment, with people across the globe recognising the airline, it has had no profits since its launch in 2015. Kannan attributes the pandemic, increase in price of fuel and the worsening economy to this.

However, he is hopeful that Vistara will get better numbers this year, because of the good public response.