Air India sees 4,500 employees opting for voluntary retirement

File image of an Air India aircraft on the runway

An estimated 4,500 Air India employees have opted for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) floated by the carrier's new management, the Economic Times reported, citing sources, on July 21.

The scheme is part of the Tata group's strategy to infuse fresh energy by hiring new talent across operations in the airline.

As part of its cost-saving measures, it's working on revamping the airline, improving productivity, and revitalising archaic systems with digital culture, the newspaper reported.

Air India has a total 12,085 employees, and 8,084 of them are permanent, while 4,001 are contractual. Air India Express, its low-cost international arm, has 1,434 employees. Around 5,000 Air India employees are set for retirement in the next five years.

"This is work-in-progress and we all are in for the long transformation haul. We are also buying topnotch aircraft and we also need topnotch talent with international experience to handle the new engines and machines," said person in the know of the development.

Air India announced VRS in June for permanent employees who have completed 55 years of age or 20 years of continuous service with the airline.

Also Read | Air India offers cash incentive, reduces eligibility age to encourage staff to voluntarily retire

As part of the new VRS for some cabin crew, clerical and unskilled staffers, the eligibility age has been relaxed from 55 years to 40 years.

The Tata group took over the management of Air India on January 27 and, as part of the Rs 2,700-crore deal, the government has ensured that Tata Sons will have to retain all employees of the airline for one year following the share purchase agreement.