Air India likely to offer voluntary separation scheme for 600 employees

Air India will introduce a Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for around 600 employees whose roles may become redundant due to the merger with Vistara

Air India is set to launch a Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for around 600 employees whose positions may become redundant following the merger with Vistara, according to a report by Financial Express.

Despite this, all flying crew will remain employed as the airline expects significant operational growth post-merger, the report said.

Recently, Air India’s management informed employees that some roles might no longer be needed after the merger. To mitigate job losses, the Tata Group is working to reassign some employees to new roles through upskilling and relocate others to different companies within the group, the report stated.

The report quoted a source as saying, “The scheme might get implemented by the middle of this month. The board will deliberate on it.”

Currently, Air India has around 19,000 employees, including both contractual and permanent staff, while Vistara has a workforce of around 6,500.

In addition to the voluntary separation scheme, the airline will offer health and other benefits to the impacted employees, the report quoted sources as saying. This development follows a thorough fitment exercise conducted across both airlines with the assistance of global firms such as the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Deloitte. 

Meanwhile, the airline group is expediting the legal merger process, though operational integration may take longer.

Furthermore, the airline has streamlined and aligned operational processes, pay scales, employee grades, and roles with those of Vistara.

Air India completes harmonising operating process

Air India, on Monday, announced that it has completed harmonising operating procedures and aligned supporting manuals across key functions for the four Tata Group airlines.

Vistara, a joint venture with Tata Group (51 per cent) and Singapore Airlines (49 per cent), is being merged into Air India to create a unified full-service carrier. Simultaneously, Air India’s subsidiaries, AIX Connect and Air India Express, are being merged to create a unified low-cost airline.

In an official statement, Air India said, “Over the last 18 months, a team of more than 100 members have worked to align on the best practices and adopt common operating procedures. The result of this will be two separate manuals for the full-service carrier and the low-cost carrier.”