merger – The News Desk

Worst is behind us, we have stabilised operations: Vistara CEO

11Apr

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Business

Worst is behind us, we have stabilised operations: Vistara CEO

NEW DELHI: "The worst is behind us and we have stabilised our operations," Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said Thursday. The airline had seen severe flight disruptions at the start of the month due to reasons like inhumane rostering that pilots protested by reporting sick en masse. In an internal communication to employees, Kannan said: "(Reasons for disruptions seen recently included) ATC delays, bird hits, and maintenance activities...We were stretched in our pilot rosters and there was not enough resilience to withstand injects that we would otherwise have weathered. We could and should have planned better. This has been a learning experience for us..." Unlike the merger of AIX Connect (erstwhile AirAsia India) with Air India Express, which has been smooth as the former's employees realise t...

98% of pilots have signed new pay deal: Vistara CEO

7Apr

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Business

98% of pilots have signed new pay deal: Vistara CEO

NEW DELHI: Over 98% of Vistara's 1,000-odd pilots have signed a new pay agreement, CEO Vinod Kannan said Saturday even as discontent simmered over reduced remuneration and disruptions plagued the Tatas-owned airline ahead of its merger with Air India (AI) by the year-end."We are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract.We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same. However, this has not caused any visible spike in attrition among the pilots," Kannan said.The CEO acknowledged recent disruptions from merger-related issues and apologised. "While we do have adequate crew for normal operations, we have been operating on a high utilisation. We were challenged due to operational disruption. We are addressing this on a war footing... continuing to h...

Why large consumer brands have a lot at stake in Disney, Sony deals

15Dec

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Business

Why large consumer brands have a lot at stake in Disney, Sony deals

By Andy Mukherjee Two large media deals in India are giving the likes of Unilever Plc and Procter & Gamble Co. a reason to worry: If entertainment goes the way of telecom and ends up effectively as a duopoly, will it become costlier for large consumer brands to reach 1.4 billion people? The first of these two transactions may come as early as Monday and would see Walt Disney Co. enter into a non-bidding agreement with Mukesh Ambani to merge their media businesses in the country. The richest Asian tycoon will hold at least 51% of the combined television and streaming operations. The second, which is looking half-baked even after being in the oven for more than two years, is expected to meld Sony Group Corp.’s local unit with Zee Entertainment Enter...