New Delhi, Jul 10: Around 600 non-flying staff of Air India and Vistara are likely to be impacted by the two airlines’ mega-merger, and efforts will be made to provide job opportunities to the affected employees within Air India group and Tata companies, sources said on Wednesday.
Tata Group-owned loss-making full-service carriers — Air India and Vistara — together have more than 23,000 employees.
Sources in the know told that the merger is expected to impact around 600 employees from the two airlines.
Efforts will be made to provide employment opportunities for the affected people at Air India as well as the Tata groups. Those who cannot be accommodated in both groups will be provided a voluntary separation scheme package, they added.
Further, the sources said the process is still progressing and the exact number of impacted staff will be known after completion of the merger, which is expected in late September or early October.
There was no comment from Air India.
The fitment exercise — which involves the evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of staff of both airlines — in the run-up to the merger has been going on for the past few months. The exercise takes into account an individual’s prior experience, performance and other factors.
The sources said the fitment process is being conducted in a fair and transparent manner. Various aspects, including that the airline group is becoming more of a technology-driven organisation, have been taken into consideration.
According to sources, there will be no impact in terms of jobs for cabin crew and pilots.
On May 12, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson, along with Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, held a one-and-a-half-hour-long town hall meeting with the employees of both carriers about the proposed merger.
At that time, both Wilson and Kannan also assured that the fitment or assignment of existing employees into the new structure was being done based on merit and competency.
The plans for fleet expansion, network growth and enhanced service over the next few years have also been taken into consideration while deciding on the organisation structure.
The merger, which will create one of the biggest airline groups, was announced in November 2022. Once the deal is complete, Singapore Airlines will have a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group.
