Govt clears appointment of new Vistara CEO Leslie Thng

The government has cleared the appointment of Leslie Thng as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara, a senior official said today.

Thng was named as the new CEO of Vistara in place of Phee Teik Yeoh, who is returning to Singapore this month to take up a senior position with the parent company, Singapore Airlines (SIA).

"Security clearance (to the appointment of Leslie Thng) has been granted," a top civil aviation ministry official told PTI.

The board of Vistara and the airlines two promoters had named Thng to succeed Yeoh as chief executive from October.

Leslie is set to take charge of the new position next week, an airline official said.

"We have secured all the regulatory approvals, including the mandatory Home Ministry's security clearance, for the appointment of Leslie Thng.

He will assume charge as the CEO next week," a Vistara executive said.The Delhi-based airline is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

The incumbent Yeoh has been steering Vistara since the launch of its operations in January 2015.

Thng started his career at Singapore Airlines and has held many senior positions at the airline. Prior to becoming the chief commercial officer at Budget Aviation Holdings, a Singapore Airlines-owned holding company, he was the CEO of SilkAir.

He is coming at the helm of Vistara at a time when it is preparing to fly overseas.

Thng will lead Vistara in its next phase of growth, including international operations, building on the solid foundation and momentum achieved by the airline under the leadership of Yeoh, Vistara had said on his appointment.

Full service carrier Vistara is likely to place a mega order for wide-body aircraft soon. The order The order which will be a mix of narrow and wide body will come after fresh capital infusion from promoters may be for more than 100 aircraft. Tata Sons holds 51 per cent stake while Singapore Airlines owns the rest 49 per cent. As part of its plans,

Vistara may advance its current A320 delivery schedule from June 2018 as it is negotiating with the lessor for early delivery. A 20th aircraft will allow the airline to fly abroad but not before four to six months.

According to sources who spoke to Business Standard, Roshan Joshi the airline’s senior vice president for flight operations wrote to employees that the airline is in the final stages of finalising the aircraft type and delivery date. "We are closely working with SQ (code for Singapore Airlines) and evaluating our delivery dates and aircraft type. We expect a big triple digit order, once finalised," Joshi wrote. Aviation consultancy firm CAPA had earlier said that it expects the airline to opt for Boeing 777 type for its long haul operations. Spokesperson of the company did not respond to queries sent by the paper.

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