The Tata Group-owned Air India is unlikely to renew contract of 300 non-flying employees after they failed to secure a place in the run-up to the Air India-Vistara merger.
As many as 300 non-flying employees on fixed-term contract of Air India are unlikely to get their service agreements renewed, PTI reported quoting sources.
These employees have been working with Air India for 10-15 years in different departments and were getting their employment contracts renewed. “But as they have not been assigned any role during the fitment exercise, which is almost complete now, their contracts are unlikely to be renewed,” PTI report claimed. The number of FTC employees, who may not get their contracts renewed stands around 300.
On July 17, Air India had announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its permanent ground staff. In a message to the ground staff, Air India said: “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.”
“Being on contract, these employees are not entitled to schemes like VRS or VSS, which Air India announced for its permanent staffers, and so they will not be getting such offers, unlike permanent employees, who also did not find a position after the fitment exercise,” the PTI report said.
The fitment exercise -- involving the evaluation of roles and responsibilities of staffers of both airlines -- in the run-up to the merger has been going on for the past few months. It takes into account an individual’s prior experience, performance and other factors. The two full-service carriers -- Air India and Vistara -- together have more than 23,000 employees.
Vistara, a 51:49 joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is in the process of merging with Air India by the end of this year. According to an Air India executive, the merged entity will require a reduced number of ground staff, leading to the commencement of an “optimisation” process.
As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is also merging Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India). The group took over the reins of Air India in January 2022 and in November it announced the consolidation of its airline business in the form of a full-service carrier and a low cost airline by way of merging Vistara with Air India and AIX Connect with Air India Express.