Why I don't fly Vistara?

 

                                                           Why I don't fly Vistara?

 When two valued brands join hands, the outcome becomes purely magical. Tata Son and Singapore Airlines got into a joint venture and launched Vistara Airlines. An airline serving one of the best in-flight meal by TajSats, a Vistara in-flight app which gives an amazing entertainment experience while flying and a decent network. It’s just international standards. Whenever I enter the Dreamliner somehow that royal feel strikes in.

While doing some reading in the past I realized that the word Vistara is actually a Sankrit word that means ‘Limitless Expanse’ and I am sure with Tata at the realm of things sky is the limit for Vistara.

It even has a frequent flyer program and you can be a Gold / Platinum member, in short quite a few perks of flying Vistara regularly.

Whenever I do an air-travel, more than the carrier it’s about which flight is more suiting my time and the pricing of the ticket. So mostly it would be an Indigo or Spice jet or Vistara or Air-India etc. It depends.

I fly economy and don’t have any membership with any airlines.

There’s something peculiar whenever I fly Vistara. When I complete all my imperatives such an check-ins and security checks and reach the boarding gate, I see myself sitting in the waiting area and just by the body language I could make out who is a Business Class flyer and who has a Gold / Platinum membership with Vistara.

With no offence and due respect to all the readers, few business class ticket holders feel they are the co-owner of the Dreamliner and the other passengers in the sitting areas are some God Forsaken refugees.

Few of the Platinum and Gold Card member start behaving as though they are at home and expect even the staff to have a divine power to identify their membership status with Vistara.

And then there are passenger like me who just want to get done travelling with these antiques and somehow reach the destination.

The cherry on the cake is when the boarding begins and the staff announces that we request all the business class passengers to board the flight first and then a separate queue for the Vistara Membership holders and then a separate queue for passengers like me. I almost get a Third Class Traveler feeling and keep doubting on whether I have really paid for the ticket or am I flying Free Of Cost because of some rich guy decided to sponsor few tickets to poor people.

While the profitability and sustenance would come from Business Class and Member passengers but the general volumes and occupancy comes only from the passengers who are actually boarded last.  

 Even after having the best in class food, service and in-flight entertainment, still I prefer choosing Indigo over a Vistara for a simple reason that I feel Indigo is more INCLUSIVE then Vistara.

Indigo may not be the best but still I chose Indigo because it’s not always about what all you offer but it’s about how you make a person feel.

I can find so much relevance in my experience of Vistara and the way we operate in Human Resources, we as HR are so much bogged down in ensuring all the services are delivered in the given time, that we get trapped into delivering a transaction then to deliver an experience. It’s really not about what you talk or show or offer… it’s all about how you make them Feel.

There would always be someone who is seeking a transfer or checking on his leave balance or following up on his Mediclaim or contesting his appraisal rating or serving his notice period. For quite a few HRs these may just be some open Tickets in their kitty but for the employee it’s an emotion, a feeling, an experience he wants to have.

It’s time we move from Transactions to Feelings to Experiences or we may end up having travelers choosing an Indigo over a Vistara.