Air India and Vistara Secure CAR 145 Approval for Unified Maintenance Operations

Air India and Vistara have obtained CAR 145 approval from DGCA, allowing them to merge their aircraft line maintenance operations. This strategic move aims to enhance Air India's technical capabilities, optimize resources, and improve operational performance and reliability.

In a milestone move, Air India and Vistara have received CAR 145 approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to streamline their aircraft line maintenance operations. According to an official release, this strategic integration will incorporate Vistara's Line Maintenance activities under Air India's facilities and scope. This pivotal development aims to unify the maintenance resources of both airlines.

Leveraging combined expertise and optimized processes, this merger will considerably boost Air India's technical capabilities, fostering greater self-reliance in fleet maintenance. Industry-leading practices will be implemented across all MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) operations to enhance operational performance and reduce aircraft turnaround times, thereby bolstering on-time performance (OTP). The unified maintenance team will enable Air India to service a mixed fleet of widebody and narrowbody aircraft more effectively, improving schedule integrity and operational reliability.

Air India already manages in-house line maintenance at 12 stations in India. This new development will further bolster Air India's in-house line maintenance capabilities, making it more self-reliant and streamlined. Key technical activities related to aircraft and its components will now fall under a single integrated scope, enhancing efficiency in operations.

The merger aims to strengthen the core line maintenance work, keeping the combined fleet of Air India and Vistara airworthy within the Air India ecosystem. Embracing best industry practices, this unified approach will enhance the engineering capacity and resources. The combined strength will streamline and coordinate work processes and systems of diverse technical teams previously involved in the maintenance.

Enhanced synergy of combined resources will ensure real-time availability of activity records, aiding fast diagnosis and troubleshooting of technical issues. This unified strength will also create economies of scale in resource mobilization and boost trained manpower for various maintenance checks across the Group Carriers' fleet, including Air India Express, whose aircraft have been serviced by the Vistara team, the release added.

(With inputs from agencies.)