Vistara to add 10 planes, 1,000 people this fiscal

Istanbul Full service carrier Vistara expects to add a total of 10 planes as well as hire more than 1,000 people in the current financial year and has shelved plans to fly to the US, according to a top executive.

Currently, Vistara, which is set to be merged with Air India, has a fleet of 61 aircraft and a staff strength of over 5,200. During an interaction here this week, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said there has been a ready pool of talent, especially pilots and cabin crew members, with the collapse of Go First. "Just like Air India and IndiGo, we also recruited them. We wanted to make sure that we took the right number, right people. We went through the usual process that every airline will do. Then, there is the entire job market for the cabin crew where freshers are coming in. We still attract good talent," he said.

Around 50 pilots from Go First have been recruited by the airline. Elaborating on Vistara's hiring plans, Kannan said the airline would add a total of 10 aircraft and would need around 1,000 staff in this financial year. "We need around 1,000 staff... till the end of this financial year... out of 10 aircraft, 1 has come and 9 more have to come, out of which 3 are wide-bodies. The rest are A320s," he said.

Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has a fleet of 61 planes and no aircraft are on the ground, he added. The fleet has three owned and one leased wide body aircraft. Kannan said the airline has decided not to fly to the US as planned earlier.