Vistara is going to undergo some breakneck expansion in the coming days, as it gets set to go abroad, while also capitalising on the opportunity created by the current shutdown of Jet Airways. So, its time to get all hands on deck to make the most of this opportunity.

To help with this, Vinod Kannan will join Vistara as it’s new Chief Strategy Officer in June 2019. Currently, Sanjiv Kapoor is Vistara’s chief strategy and commercial officer (CSCO). Vinod Kannan has been working with Singapore Airlines since 2001. He is the Chief Strategy Officer at Scoot as well as the vice president of Singapore Airlines.

Next month onwards, Sanjiv Kapoor will carve out his duties as a CSO of handling network planning, alliances, and airline partnerships and transfer it to Vinod Kannan. Sanjiv Kapoor will still remain Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and will be responsible for the distribution, pricing, revenue management, sales, marketing, customer experience, inflight services, catering, frequent flyer programme, call centre and cargo. That’s a lot of departments.

Vistara said in a statement,

As Vistara accelerates its growth and prepares to take the next leap in its journey of becoming a global brand, certain changes have been introduced in the leadership structure. Strategy and commercial are cornerstones of any airline’s business, and these two areas will be bolstered to ensure focus on key priorities.

Vinod Kannan appointment comes at a crucial stage when Vistara is embarking on its international journey. Vistara had plans to add Colombo as its first international destination. But in light of recent terror attacks, they are looking at an alternative destination. Coupled with this, the temporary allocation of Jet Airways international bilateral rights starting, several lucrative destinations with restricted bilateral rights are now on the table.

Also, Vistara is taking some ex-Jet Airways 737s and has shown interest in ex-Jet Airways A330s and even 777s as well for a quick start of mid-haul to long-haul international growth. The first 787-9 on order will come only in January 2020. Vinod Kannan is indeed joining Vistara at one of its most crucial growth phases.

We wish Vinod Kannan all the best for his new assignment.