Air India VRS: Tata-owned airline makes voluntary retirement offer for non-flying staff

Tata-owned Air India made a voluntary retirement offer for its non-flying staff on Friday. This is the second such offer by the group after it took control of the airline in January last year. Permanent general cadre officers who have attained the age of 40 years or above and completed a minimum of five years of continuous service at Air India are eligible for the offer.

Also eligible will be clerical and unskilled categories of employees who have completed a minimum of five years of continuous service. 

The offer will be open till April 30. 

Around 2,100 employees will be eligible to avail the latest voluntary retirement offer, as per sources who told news agency PTI. The airline currently has a staff strength of about 11,000 people.

Tatas launched the first phase of the voluntary retirement offer in June 2022. 

Employees had requested the group to extend the additional benefit of voluntary retirement to other permanent employees too. Air India announced the second phase of the voluntary retirement offer in response to this, said Chief Human Resources Suresh Dutt Tripathi in the communication sent out to the staff. 

"The employees who apply for voluntary retirement from 17th March 2023 to 30th April 2023 will also be provided with an ex-gratia amount as a one-time benefit. Eligible employees who apply up to 31st March 2023 will receive Rs 1 lakh over and above the ex-gratia amount," the communication said.

Both flying and non-flying staff were covered in the first phase of the voluntary retirement offer. Around 4,200 employees were eligible and out of them, around 1,500 people opted for the offer. 

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