700 employees may be laid off from this airline company, know the reason

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 close to retirement and employees on fixed-term contracts.

As HT Live's Neha LM Tripathi reports, Air India, which has around 18,000 employees, is going to merge with Vistara. This will require accommodating around 6000 Vistara employees in the merged entity. One of the two officials said, “The internal fitment process has been completed and layoffs will be announced soon. Around 700 employees from both Air India and Vistara are expected to be laid off, excluding those on fixed-term contracts and those retiring soon.”

Pilots and cabin crew will not be fired

Despite repeated attempts, an Air India spokesperson declined to comment. The airline has hired consultants Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte 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 nearing retirement age, and employees on fixed-term contracts whose contracts are automatically renewed under normal circumstances,” he said.

Layoff decisions based on performance

At the same time, another official said that the decision of layoffs has also been taken on the basis of performance. A third official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Employees in non-flying functions were to be assigned roles based on organizational requirements and individual merit.”

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.