Air India’s non-flying staff can now apply for the voluntary retirement scheme or VRS till 31 May, 2023. Earlier, the deadline for applying was 30 April, 2023.
Through an internal communication, Suresh Dutt Tripathi, chief human resources officer, Air India, informed the staff that the last date for applying for voluntary retirement has been extended for all the eligible staff, by a month. Even employees in the clerical and unskilled categories will be eligible, provided they have completed at least five years of continuous service.
The decision to accept or reject the application will depend entirely on the management.
In June 2022, the permanent employees of Air India were given an option to take voluntary retirement. Employee who had attained the age of 55 years or had completed 20 years of continuous service in the organization were eligible. For some employees, however, the airline had relaxed the eligibility age bracket of 55 years to 40 years. These included cabin crew members who were in grades “S-3, S-5, S-7, E-0, E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4 and E-5”, clerical and allied staff who were in grades “S-2, S-5, S-6 and S-7” and unskilled employees belonging to grades “S-1, S-2, S-3, S-4 and S-5”, as mentioned in the order.
The cabin crew opting for VRS had been requested to stay on for two more months after their date of release, as the airline was facing a scarcity of experienced pilots and cabin crew.
