Air India, Vistara to merge line maintenance ops post DGCA approval

Moving a step ahead in the Air India-Vistara merger the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation regulator has granted its approval to integrate the line maintenance of both airlines. The approval is CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) 145 approval which ensures that aircraft maintenance organizations meet the standards needed to perform maintenance, repairs, and inspections of its fleet. 

This is looked upon as one of the key milestones in the merger process as Vistara’s line maintenance activities will now merge with Air India’s facilities, capabilities and scope thus ensuring more self-reliance for both airlines in terms of line maintenance. This move will also help the airline optimise its resources and enhance operational performance, bolstering on-time performance.

Air India claims that, with this much-anticipated approval it will now be in a better position to service a mixed fleet of widebody and narrowbody aircraft as it will have a unified maintenance team and resources. The integration will also enhance the schedule integrity and reliability of operations.

Air India has 12 in-house line maintenance stations in India and the move will further streamline the line maintenance operations as the airlines move closer to the merger.

Just last month, on June 7, 2024, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its approval for the merger of Tata Group airlines under one umbrella, marking it one of the largest airline mergers in the world. Post this, the airline management has fast-tracked all the activities that make the integration of Air India and Vistara into a smooth transition process. 

Earlier this month, reliable sources confirmed that the Tata Group is bound to maintain Air India’s top management post its merger with Vistara. Both airlines also rolled out VRS schemes for their employees to further make the employee transition process smoother.

The merger of Air India and Vistara, apart from operational challenges also faces other resistance as the two airlines have a completely different fleet, culture, employee ethics and management. Only time will tell how the one big airline – under ‘Air India’ brand will pan out on the global aviation map.