Tata a step closer to merging four group airlines into two by harmonising operating manuals

Air India and group companies are initiating the necessary crew training to action the harmonized processes, which will be another step in the direction towards building the new Air India and Air India Express.

Tata Group airlines on 8 July announced that it had completed the harmonisation of the operating procedures across its key functions, including harmonisation of the supporting manuals across all four carriers, reaching an important milestone in the merger of four airlines into two in the run-up to the Vistara-Air India merger and amalgamation of AIX Connect with Air India Express

“This is an important milestone in the merger of the Tata Group airlines and we are grateful for the support received from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in terms of timely clearances for the merger process. We are also grateful to DGCA for their continuous guidance, systematic review and approval of the harmonised operating manuals. DGCA has guided our teams with a safety-first change management approach which is congruent with the safety-first priorities of the TATA Group. The live tracker created by the Flight Standards Directorate of DGCA with a dedicated team for continuous monitoring of the progress of the harmonisation process has been instrumental in achieving the challenging task in a time bound manner,” said Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India.

Over the last 18 months, a team of more than 100 members have worked to align on the best practices and adopting common operating procedures. The result of this will be two separate manuals for the full-service carrier and the low-cost carrier. Air India and group companies are initiating the necessary crew training to action the harmonized processes, which will be another step in the direction towards building the new Air India and Air India Express.

At present, the steel-to-software conglomerate fully owns three airlines -- Air India, Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) -- while it holds a majority of 51 per cent in Vistara. Singapore Airlines holds the remaining 49 per cent in Vistara. Over the last 18 months, a team of more than 100 members have worked to align on the best practices and adopt common operating procedures, Air India noted.

In another development earlier in June, Air India Express relocated its headquarters to the Vatika One-on-One complex in Gurugram, now sharing the same campus as Air India's headquarters. This strategic move aims to enhance collaboration and synergies between the two entities.