NEW DELHI: Cutting down headcount as part of its merger process with Vistara, Air India on Wednesday announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its permanent ground staff.
“We are announcing a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for employees with a minimum of five years of continuous service at Air India and a Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for employees with less than five years of continuous service,” said the Tata Group airline in message to the ground staff.
The merger of Vistara, a 51:49 joint venture of the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, with Air India is expected to get clear by the end of this year. According to reports, the merged entity would need fewer staff to manage day-to-day operations.
Excluding pilots, Air India said that all permanent ground staff, including cabin crew, and any licensed role holder would be eligible for the two schemes. The window to participate in VRS and VSS would remain open till August 16. The acceptance of applications and the release date would be decided by Air India management.
At present, Air India has about 19,000 employees (both contractual and permanent), while Vistara has around 6,500. Industry sources say that this VRS would impact 500-600 workers.
In March this year, Air India had laid off more than 180 non-flying employees in the last few weeks as the staff could not utilise the voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) and re-skilling opportunities.