Air India unveils voluntary retirement, separation schemes before merger
The Tata Group plans to maintain continuity in Air India’s leadership team following its merger with Vistara
Air India has introduced two new separation schemes for non-flying permanent staff ahead of its merger with Vistara. The voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) is available to employees with at least five years of service, while the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) is being offered to those who have been with the airline for less than five years, the airline announced on Wednesday.
However, the airline has not provided specific details about the two schemes. It has offered employees a one-month period to apply for voluntary retirement or separation.
Earlier this month, a news report stated that the merger is expected to affect around 600 employees from both airlines. Together, Tata Group-owned Air India and the loss-making full-service carrier Vistara employ over 23,000 people.
News reports show that Vistara is expected to announce similar plans soon. Following the completion of the role assessment process, some redundancies are likely to emerge, a Economic Times news report quoted a source as saying.
Air India is seeking to place some of the redundant employees within the Air India group or other Tata Group companies.
Vistara is a collaboration between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group. Post-merger, Singapore Airlines will hold a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India.
The ongoing evaluation, which reviews the roles and responsibilities of staff from both airlines, has been in progress for several months in preparation for the merger. This process considers factors such as prior experience and performance.
Additionally, Tata Group is consolidating its airline operations by merging Air India Express with AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India).
Tata Group to retain top management post Vistara merger
The Tata Group plans to maintain continuity in Air India’s leadership team following its merger with Vistara. All senior executives at Air India are expected to retain their roles after the merger, showed news reports.
Campbell Wilson will continue as the CEO, with Nipun Aggarwal and Sanjay Sharma remaining as the chief commercial and transformation officer and chief financial officer, respectively.
Vistara’s CEO, Vinod Kannan, is expected to return to Singapore Airlines (SIA), his parent company. Kannan, who has been on secondment to Vistara since 2019 as the chief strategy officer for the Tata Sons-SIA joint venture, will resume his duties at SIA.
Under the joint venture agreement, SIA had the right to appoint Vistara’s CEO, while the Tata Group chose its finance chief. Deepak Rajawat, Vistara’s chief commercial officer, is expected to join the newly merged entity.
First Published: Jul 18 2024 | 10:23 AM IST