Vistara is harnessing the legendary hospitality of the Tatas and the service excellence of Singapore Airlines to give customers a very different service experience, says Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara. Edited excerpts from an interview.

You said that Vistara has managed to get the Air Operators Permit in record time. AirAsia also claimed the same and burnt up ₹26 crore in the first quarter of operations? What gives you optimism the same will not happen to you?

I think the key difference is we got our AOP on December 15 and we will launch on January 9. We are going to launch soon after the AOP.

Does launching soon after getting the AOP in any way create a problem as far as selling tickets are concerned?

We have been gearing up for the launch... We had initially targeted to launch operations on October 15 but there was a minor setback and we did not get the chance to launch then. We were ready right from the start. When this setback came about we just took more time to refine, go through the drill to reshape our product, so that when we launch the passenger will experience what he has never experienced before.

You are talking about experience, but an Air India or a Jet offers in-flight entertainment, which you are not offering. Will that not be a disadvantage?

I would like to reiterate customer experience is one which is end-to-end. You do not just look at what the product on board is, although it is a part of the overall customer experience.

We are going to redefine the experience on the ground and in the air. It involves the entire journey. From the time the customer books (a ticket) till the time he leaves the airport.

Can you tell us how the life of an economy class passenger will change from January 9?

For a start we will have auto check-in where we simplify the process for the customer. We take one particular process which is a very painful process as espoused by many of the consumers during our surveys. We take it out of the equation. We are telling them, we will check-in for you.

But does IndiGo not offer the same facility, with the boarding card landing in your inbox?

There is a slew of experiences. We are introducing a first in many areas.

At the end of the day, consumer experience is the one that is from end-to-end. No single product or service feature is the only reason they travel with us.

They will travel with Vistara… Our New Year gift to India because of slew of unique and delightful experiences like auto check-in, mobile app. No lines, dedicated counters…

Kingfisher tried that… they had kerbside...

In the in-flight dining experience we are going to have an eclectic mix of Indian and global cuisines driven by international culinary trends. We are going to have a first value-based system in terms of the frequent flyer loyalty programme.

We are going to be on Amadeus, a global technology partner, which will allow us to make our innovative products and services available regardless of what platform the customer chooses to interact with us on, whether it is through the travel agent, Web, mobile app or customer-care services. We believe strongly in leveraging on IT, which will be a key differentiator not only in the way that it delights our customer, but also in the way we will drive cost leadership. What is difficult for us to explain is the intuitively thoughtful service. It is very difficult to explain as it is the soft aspect. This is where we have been spending a lot of time training our staff.

Any plans of getting in-flight entertainment on your fleet?

Yes. When we have tied up all the loose ends, we will make an announcement, which should be very soon.

Pricing is a key component…

Indeed it is. We are offering a range of fares, which cater to customers from all strata based on our value proposition and slew of services. It will be value for money, be it in business, premium class or economy.

How important is the removal of the 5 years 20 aircraft rule for doing international operations?

From the start we were aware of the rule. The writing is on the wall. The Government has taken cognizance of the rule that unfortunately penalises Indian carriers and not foreign ones. We are hopeful that very soon the 5/20 will go away.

That will open the world to us. The world becomes our oyster to grow our route network. There are many interesting destinations both within and outside India to which we would like to operate.

Our plans to thrive in this industry are focused on domestic operations, at least for the first five years. But if the rule changes, there is nothing stopping us from going international.

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