Air India launches second phase of VR scheme

Air India, which was acquired by the Tata group in January 2022, has announced a second round of voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) for its general cadre employees, clerical staff, and unskilled staff. To be eligible for the offer, employees must have completed a minimum of five years of continuous service and be over 40 years of age.

Currently, Air India has approximately 11,000 employees, including flying and non-flying staff. Of these, 2,100 employees are eligible to apply for the voluntary retirement offer. This is the second phase of the VRS scheme, with the first phase being introduced in June 2022, which covered cabin crew, clerical, and unskilled categories.

Around 1,500 staff members had then accepted the voluntary retirement offer, accounting for 43 percent of the eligible members.

Suresh Dutt Tripathi, chief human resources officer, Air India, stated that there has been a request from employees to extend the additional benefit of voluntary retirement to other permanent employees.

The airline has, therefore, decided to launch the second phase of the VRS scheme. Employees who apply for voluntary retirement until April 30 will be provided with an ex gratia amount as a one-time benefit. Those who apply by March 31 will receive an additional Rs 1,000,000 over and above the ex gratia amount.

In September 2022, Air India announced the Vihaan.AI transformation plan, which aims to achieve various goals over a five-year period. The plan’s objective is to put Air India on a path of sustained growth, profitability, and market leadership.

In response to a shortage of cabin crew, Air India permitted its voluntarily retired cabin crew members to extend their tenure until January of the following year, as of November last year.