DGCA greenlights harmonised training of Air India and Vistara

NEW DELHI: India’s civil aviation regulator has allowed Air India to harmonise its operational procedures and manuals, giving the Tata group a key approval in its ambitious efforts to merge its airline business.

Following the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) nod, Tata group will now have only two manuals--one for full-service carriers, and the other for the budget airline business, Air India said in a statement on Monday.

DGCA also approved a bridge course -- a short-term online module for Vistara pilots and cabin crews to familiarise themselves with basic procedures on safety including handling emergencies after they move to Air India. This will help to fasten the process of integration of the two airlines as normally, crossover training of crew requires about a month.

However, DGCA head Vikram Dev Dutt told ET that the regulator will continue to track development and may increase or reduce the flexibility given to the Tata group airlines.

“Safety is of paramount priority and DGCA will decide on the flexibility to be given depending on the evolving scenario in the run up to the merger,” Dutt said.

Under the restructuring plan, Air India Express and AirAsia India are being merged to form a budget airline. The combined entity of Air India and Vistara will compete in the full-service segment.

“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. DGCA has guided our teams with a safety-first change management approach which is congruent with the safety-first priorities of the Tata group,” said Campbell Wilson, CEO of Air India.

The merger is a complex process, requiring integration of operations, training and engineering processes. DGCA’s flight standard directorate under chief flight operations inspector Shweta Singh has created a real time tracking tool to monitor the progress of harmonisation.

“India has never seen a merger of such scale where four airlines are merging into a single entity. Around 500 items across manuals are required to be harmonised and safety is of primary importance while time is also of essence here," said a person involved in the process. "So, for that, DGCA has developed this tool where both the regulator and Air India officials can work together on it,” the person said.

Tata group wants to consolidate its airline business, which posted a combined loss of Rs 15,532 crore in FY23, as early as possible to leverage operational synergies, gain efficiencies and reduce duplication.

The merger is equally important for Singapore Airlines as its 25.1% stake in the merged Tata airline entity will strengthen its presence in the world’s third-largest aviation market and one of the fastest-growing.