Vistara offers voluntary retirement scheme to non-flying staff ahead of merger with Air India

Vistara has offered voluntary retirement as well as voluntary separation schemes for its non-flying staff, ahead of the full-service carrier's merger with Air India, according to officials.

A joint venture between the Tatas and Singapore Airlines, Vistara has around more than 6,500 employees, including permanent and contract staff.

The Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) have been offered for non-flying permanent employees. Eligible staff can apply for the schemes till August 23, they said.

While VRS is for those who have completed five years of service, VSS is for the staff who are yet to complete five-year service at the airline.

The schemes are similar to those offered by the Tata Group-owned Air India earlier this month.

The schemes are not applicable to pilots, cabin crew and those holding licences for carrying out their duties.

There was no official comment from Vistara on the schemes. The airline started flying in 2015.

Earlier this month, sources had said about 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.

Tata Group-owned loss-making full-service carriers -- Air India and Vistara -- together have more than 23,000 employees.

Meanwhile, 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.

On May 12, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson, along with Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, held a one-and-a-half-hour town hall meeting with employees of both carriers about the proposed merger.

At that time, 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 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% stake in Air India. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group.

In June, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) cleared the merger, and in March, Singapore's competition regulator CCCS gave a conditional nod for the proposed deal.

Earlier in September 2023, the deal received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), subject to certain conditions.