At least 700 employees of both Air India and Vistara airlines are going to be laid off. According to two officials, the official announcement is likely to be made by October this year.
The much-awaited merger of the two airlines has put the sword of layoffs on the employees. Both officials said that this does not include employees who are nearing retirement and employees with fixed term contracts.
Air India, which has around 18,000 employees, is set to merge with Vistara, reports HT Live’s Neha L.M. Tripathi. This will require about 6,000 Vistara employees to be accommodated in the merged entity. One of the two officials said, “The internal fitment process has been completed and layoffs will be announced soon. About 700 employees are expected to be laid off from both Air India and Vistara, excluding those on fixed-term contracts and those who will retire soon.”
There will be no layoffs for pilots and cabin crew
Despite repeated attempts, an Air India spokesperson declined to comment. The airline had hired Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte as consultants to help with the fitment process.
“The global standard is about 60%, but the airline aims to retain about 95% of its employees. Those who will be laid off do not include flying staff (pilots and cabin crew), employees approaching retirement age, and employees on fixed-term contracts whose contracts are automatically renewed under normal circumstances,” he said.
Layoff decisions are based on performance
Another official said layoffs were also decided based on performance. “Employees in non-flying roles were to be assigned roles based on organisational requirements and individual merit,” said a third official, requesting anonymity.
The airline had earlier announced two rounds of voluntary retirement schemes for employees. Around 2,500 employees left the group in this. The Tata Group became the owner of Air India in January 2022. Under the agreement with the government during privatization, they were barred from sacking any employee for a year.
