Air India Returns to Tata Group: Here’s What Will Happen To Airline’s Over 10,000 Employees

Air India Returns to Tata Group: As per the agreement, the disinvested airline will not be able to retrench employees for a period of one year from the closing date and that employees will be eligible to benefits under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme if retrenched in the second year from closing.

New Delhi: Nearly after 69 years, Air India on Thursday officially returned to Tata Sons. Soon after the handing over ceremony, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the Tata Group is committed to making Air India a world-class airline. The Tata Group also acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to reforms and faith in India’s entrepreneurship spirit, which made the “historic transition” possible.

“We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline. I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India to our Group, and look forward to working together,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

The group also said it philosophically agrees with “the Prime Minister’s vision for the aviation sector, of making it affordable and ensuring it contributes to boosting ‘Ease of Living’ for citizens”.

What will happen to Air India’s 10,000 employees? As the operating procedures of the airline under the Tata Group will undergo massive change, Air India’s over 10,000 employees are likely to see many changes as well.

• In December last year, the Central government had said that the new owner of the disinvested airline will not be able to retrench employees for a period of one year from the closing date and that employees will be eligible to maximum benefits under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) if retrenched in the second year from closing.
• Giving details, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad had said that the sale is on a ‘going concern’ basis and the employees shall continue to be employees in terms of the agreed SPA (share purchase agreement) signed on 25th October, 2021.
• “Employees cannot be retrenched for a period of one year from the closing date and will be eligible for voluntary retirement scheme with maximum benefits in case of retrenchment in the second year from closing,” Karad had said.
• Apart from this, the employees will also be eligible for other benefits such as gratuity, provident fund benefits, passage rights, in accordance with applicable law/ industry practice.
• Moreover, the Air India employees have been allowed to stay in the residential colonies for a six-month period from closing.