Vistara Offers Voluntary Retirement, Separation Scheme To Staff Ahead Of Air India Merger
While VRS is for those who have completed five years of service, VSS is for the staff who are yet to complete five-year service at the airline.
Vistara is offering voluntary retirement and voluntary separation schemes to its non-flying staff, ahead of its merger with Air India, according to officials.
While VRS is for those who have completed five years of service, VSS is for the staff who are yet to complete five-year service at the airline. These schemes are available exclusively to non-flying permanent employees, with applications open until Aug. 23.
The schemes are not applicable for pilots, cabin crew and those holding licences for carrying out their duties.
The schemes are similar to those offered by the Tata Group-owned Air India earlier this month.
There was no official comment from Vistara on the schemes. The airline started flying in 2015.
As a joint venture between the Tata group and Singapore Airlines, Vistara employs over 6,500 individuals, including both permanent and contract staff.
Earlier this month, about 600 non-flying staff of Air India and Vistara were likely to be impacted by the two airlines' mega-merger, and efforts will be made to provide job opportunities to the affected employees within Air India group and Tata companies, PTI reported citing sources.
The Tata Group-owned loss-making full-service carriers—Air India and Vistara—together have more than 23,000 employees.
Meanwhile, the fitment exercise—which involves the evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of staff of both airlines—in the run-up to the merger has been going on for the past few months. The exercise takes into account an individual's prior experience, performance and other factors.
On May 12, Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson, along with Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, held a one-and-a-half-hour town hall meeting with employees of both carriers about the proposed merger.
At that time, Wilson and Kannan also assured that the fitment, or assignment, of existing employees into the new structure was being done based on merit and competency.
The merger, which will create one of the biggest airline groups, was announced in November 2022. Once the deal is complete, Singapore Airlines will have a 25.1% stake in Air India.
In June, the National Company Law Tribunal cleared the merger, and in March, Singapore's competition regulator CCCS gave a conditional nod for the proposed deal.
Earlier in September 2023, the deal received approval from the Competition Commission of India, subject to certain conditions.
(With inputs from PTI).
