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Debt-laden Air India is planning a generous voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its employees before the government goes through with its plans to divest stake in the company.
According to a report by Business Standard, the government is depending on employees who are near the age of 55 years among the non-technical staff for VRS scheme. The retirement age at Air India is 58.
The technical staff comprises of pilots and cabin crew and the rest, including the ground staff, is the non-technical staff. The demand for technical staff is high in the market and hence, the VRS package will be for its non-technical staff.
Air India and its subsidiaries have nearly 22,000 employees. Of this, Air India has 12,000 employees, including pilots and cabin crew.
“Around 47 percent of Air India’s non-technical employees are in the last five to six years of their job, and they are likely to accept VRS,” an official told the newspaper.
A high number of Air India employees have already superannuated this year. “In October itself, around 95 employees superannuated, and a similar number is going to retire at the end of November,” the official said.
In the event of some non-technical staff deciding against taking the VRS, the government will ask the new owner to absorb them.
According to the report, the average age of the airline staff is high after it froze hiring in 2012. Since then, it has hired pilots and cabin crew on contractual basis.
According to an earlier report, Air India had drawn up a proposal to buyout nearly one-third of its employees. The board has also put its fleet expansion on hold.
In June this year, the government had approved divestment of its stake in the loss-making Air India, which has debt of nearly Rs 50,000 crore on its books.
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