NEW DELHI: Vistara chief commercial officer Vinod Kannan will be the airline’s chief executive officer from January 1, 2022, when current incumbent Leslie Thng moves back to Singapore Airline (SIA).
Vistara is a full service JV of Tata Group and SIA. The move comes at a time when Tatas are seen as the frontrunner for acquiring Air India and both the hardware and software of SIA — which is currently not onboard the likely AI homecoming to the founder group — will come in handy for operating the Maharaja’s popular longhauls to distant continents.
Kannan had joined Vistara in June 2019 as chief strategy officer and currently heads areas like network planning, revenue management, marketing, customer experience and cabin service functions. He started his career with SIA in 2001 and has held various senior positions in the airline.
Before joining Vistara, he served as CCO of Scoot, SIA’s budget arm. Holding a master’s degree in business administration from the National University of Singapore and University of California, Los Angeles, Kannan has handled global network planning and had spent eight years running operations in Indonesia, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
Vistara’s chairman Bhaskar Bhat said: “Leslie has led the airline through a significant phase, with the start of international operations and the entry into service of various aircraft including the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Vinod will lead Vistara in its next phase of growth, building on the strong foundation laid by Leslie. This company continues to benefit from the strong commitment of the two partners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines to Vistara.”
Leslie Thng, who led Vistara as CEO for over four years, will move on to take up a senior appointment with SIA from January 1, 2022.
The airline’s board has named Vinod Kannan to succeed Thng effective January 1, 2022. TATA SIA Airlines Limited, known by the brand name Vistara, is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and SIA had commented operations in January2015.
It currently has a fleet of 48 aircraft, including 37 Airbus A320, three Airbus A321neo, six Boeing 737-800NG, and two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and the network spans across India to international destinations like Frankfurt, London and Tokyo.
