Air India making changes to its ground staff ops to increase productivity

Air India has set up a new organisational layout for its non-flying staff as they have been assigned new designations with their work levels and roles also undergoing an overhaul, The Economic Times (ET) has reported. The decision has been taken to simplify the roles and make them more market-competitive and productivity-oriented.

In April this year, flying staff which includes pilots and cabin crew have also been placed in a similar structure. The new structure is part of the company's plan to transform the ad hoc policies which were prevalent earlier. The structural changes are aimed at putting performance and productivity at the centre of Air India's operations.

Suresh Tripathi, CHRO at Air India told ET, “With this move, the creation of a completely new organisational structure is complete and we have shared it in a transparent manner with all our employees to promote a fair and meritorious work culture. This will also be an organisation focused on consumer centricity. What was being driven by seniority or the number of years spent in service is now being driven by performance, responsibility, and accountability."

Around 30 per cent of the total employees (15,000) at Air India are new hires who have received appointments in the last eighteen months. Air India added more than 5,000 new employees to its workforce. This included 500 pilots and 3200 new members of the cabin crew. At present, the carrier is hiring staff for non-flying positions such as those in operations, HR, finance, ground handling etc.

Here on, Air India is looking forward to implementing the approved and proposed mergers within the group from an HR standpoint, the ET report said. The intention is to bring uniformity in the operations of the four airlines under Tata's wings, namely Air Asia, Air India Express, Air India, and Vistara.

Adding details on the subject, Tripathi was quoted in the ET report as saying, "The merger of Air Asia, India and Air India Express is already being implemented to make a low-cost carrier, and we await the necessary approvals on our proposal to merge Vistara into Air India to form a full-service carrier."