Fell short of expectations: Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan in open letter to customers

Vistara, the airline joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has been cast under unusually negative light due to a raft of customer complaints in recent months.

Vistara recently launched a PR charm offensive to make amends. On February 16, CEO Vinod Kannan wrote an open letter to customers promising to improve services.

Below is the full text of the letter:

Since Vistara’s inception, our efforts have centered around redefining air travel in India by breaking new ground and setting new standards in customer experience. We have always wanted to make flying an experience that is not transactional, but a joyous and memorable ‘new feeling’, which we were able to deliver and win millions of hearts.

However, I admit that we fell short on this commitment in the last few months and did not live up to your expectations. Knowing that you have been inconvenienced and disappointed with our services has been heartbreaking for me and the entire Vistara family.

I know how our recent flight disruptions would have altered your plans, and how frustrating it would have been for you to hold the phone line for a long time to speak to our customer service representatives - or how disappointed you would have been when your choice of meal or beverages were not served on some occasions. I am aware that our website and mobile app couldn’t offer targeted solutions to some of the problems you faced. And I also understand that your on-ground experience may not have been up to your expectations on some instances.

I would like to assure you that your grievances have not gone unnoticed, regardless of the medium you used to voice them.

Not an excuse, but the explanation I owe you.
Your safety and that of our people takes precedence over any other consideration. However, the varying restrictions that we have had to navigate and the constant safety concerns due to these unusual times, brought us some unique challenges in these past months, forcing us to curtail many aspects of our services, temporarily. The new year, brought along a sharp decline in demand right after a brief but very optimistic period.

While we had resumed recruitment and ramp-up of resources on various fronts buoyed by optimism in late 2021, the requirements around training and occupancy meant that we were not able to scale up as desired. This, coupled with a scale back in capacity, necessitated by a precipitous decline in demand, implied that the volume of enquiries and requests increased manifold.

But change is underway.
Today, with this letter, I promise you that many changes and enhancements are in the works. Yes, it will not happen overnight, but I am confident that we will get there soon.

I have taken stock of things as they stood, and I want to assure you that we are addressing some of the gaps on a war footing. We are actively working with our partners to significantly reduce the length of time it takes for you to connect with us over a phone call and to ensure a consistent airport and on-ground experience. Additionally, I have also fast-tracked initiatives across our entire IT infrastructure to make your digital experience with us more convenient.

We have already restored some of our on-board services to pre-pandemic standards and are bringing back some of the other things you love about your in-flight Vistara experience. On 1 January 2022, we resumed serving non-vegetarian meals in Economy Class on all our domestic flights. Ten days later, we resumed serving hot beverages on all international flights, including freshly brewed Starbucks® coffee.

From 1 February 2022, we enhanced the choice of alcoholic beverages on all our international flights across all cabins. From 11 February 2022, we resumed hot beverages, including Starbucks® coffee, on select domestic flights, and we plan to extend it to all domestic flights progressively. Menu cards have also been brought back in Business Class on domestic flights as well as on short and medium-haul international flights. All these services are being progressively extended across our domestic and international network as we gradually move towards restoring the complete ‘Vistara Experience’ that you have known us for. We have also improved our inflight entertainment offerings across our domestic and international network by introducing a wider variety of engaging content which will now be updated more frequently.

Vistara is a fine manifestation of two of the world’s most respected organisations – the Tata group and Singapore Airlines – that are respected for their exacting standards in customer service, among other aspects. Your confidence in us is the reason we have won the highest of honours and the most coveted of awards and titles over the last seven years. Our endeavour is to make Vistara one of the world’s best airlines, renowned for its operational and service excellence – the airline that you can be proud of.

Today, I write to ask for your patience while we make that happen. I cannot thank you enough for your continued support, feedback, and critique – it only helps us to know what we need to address to remain your airline of choice. It is my commitment to you that we will emerge stronger, keeping you at the heart of what we do, as always.

Thank you for choosing Vistara and we look forward to welcoming you on board again, soon.