Vistara is in the process of being merged with Air India, and the former’s non-flying employees have been anxious about what their roles will be in the merged entity. Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara, has assured them that they would be clearly informed of their roles in May-June once the final approval is received from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). He has informed the staff that the airline is sorting out the new salary structure basis the inputs and feedback received from the pilots and cabin crew. He has also assured that all employees will be assigned suitable roles in the merged entity.
Post approval from NCLT, integration will happen in earnest, covering migration of data, systems transition and so on, to ensure smooth and seamless functioning of the combined airline.
A consultant has been engaged to work with the human resource teams to help integrate the various functions, including back-office, which involves non-flying employees. Work is on to clearly lay out the relationships between various jobs, departments and people in the hierarchy of the merged entity. This activity is expected to be completed by the end of April 2024, as per media reports.
Earlier this month, disgruntled pilots of Vistara had protested the revision of their contracts post the airline’s merger with Air India. The pilots were worried that the revised contracts/salary structure—aimed at ensuring parity between the pilots of the two airlines— will result in reduced payments in terms of the fixed pay component and increased incentives linked to flying. The pilots were assured at the time that they would be paid for the extra hours they worked, and that the amount would be credited to their accounts post conclusion of the merger process.
