Digital transformation of the airline industry: Vinod Bhat, CIO, Vistara

Vinod Bhat, Chief Information Officer, Vistara, recently spoke to Dataquest about the impact of digitisation on the airline industry

It is now a known fact that digital transformation has moved on from being just a buzzword to actually getting adopted especially after the pandemic set in. Even the most unversed industries have now adopted technology to ensure business growth. When it comes to the airline industry, while its is known that there is a large amount of technology that is being used - a very few people know that the industry is now focused on digital transformation initiatives  to offer superior customer experience. To tell us more about the technologies that are being used on a daily basis in the airline industry, Vinod Bhat, Chief Information Officer, Vistara, recently spoken to Dataquest. 

Bhat is an industry veteran with nearly three decades of experience in driving business transformation by leveraging digital technologies. He has held various leadership positions in USA, Canada, UK, Europe and APAC regions. He is winner of several awards including CIO100 2021 Award by IDG, IDC Industry ICONIC Innovation Award 2021, CIOPower List 2021, Mint-TechCircle Business Transformation Award (BTAwards21), CIO1000 APAC Award 2021, CXO Tech Excellence Award 2021. He has also won 'Knight of the Town Award' from General Electric (GE) Information Services USA for exemplary performance.

As the chief information officer at Vistara, he is driving 3 broad objectives:

1. Elevate Vistara Experience further to the customers & staff by leveraging digital technologies across the value chain.

2. Improve Operational Excellence through automation interventions and process

improvements, with the right balance of cost and value.

3. Enable Transformation in the IT infrastructure by delivering improvements across platforms & tools with right set of SLAs.

Vistara, one of India’s highest-rated airline on Skytrax and Tripadvisor,  has been embracing digitisation to offer a superior flying experience to its customers, said Bhat to Dataquest. The airlines is a joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA). The airline has a fleet of 51 aircrafts, including 40 Airbus A320, four Airbus A321neo, five Boeing 737-800NG, and two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, and has flown more than 30 million customers since starting operations.