Air India extends last date to apply for Voluntary Retirement for its staff till 31 May

Air India on Monday announced that it will extend the last date to apply for Voluntary Retirement Scheme(VRS) for its employees till the end of this month. In a letter written by a top official of Air India, it mentioned that all eligible employees can opt for the VRS scheme till 31 May.  

“This is in reference to the Organizational Announcement dated 17 March 2023 on the subject. In this regard, please note that the last date to apply for Voluntary Retirement in terms of the above Organizational Announcement for all the eligible employees has been extended till 31 May 2023. However, the acceptance of application and the date of release will continue to be subject to management's discretion,” the letter mentioned

Earlier, Air India on March this year made a voluntary retirement offer for its non-flying staff, the second such offer by the Tata Group after taking control of the loss-making airline in January last year.

The latest offer was available for permanent general cadre officers who have attained the age of 40 years or above and completed a minimum of five years of continuous service at the airline, according to a communication.

Also, clerical and unskilled categories of employees who completed a minimum of five years of continuous service will be eligible.

Sources said that a total of around 2,100 employees will be eligible to avail the latest voluntary retirement offer. Currently, the airline has a staff strength of about 11,000 people, including flying and non-flying staff.

In June 2022, Air India launched the first phase of the voluntary retirement offer.

There has been a request from employees for extending the additional benefit of voluntary retirement to other permanent employees as well. In response to this, Air India is announcing the second phase of the voluntary retirement offer, the airline's Chief Human Resources Suresh Dutt Tripathi said in the communication sent out to the staff on Friday.

In the first phase of the voluntary retirement offer, both flying and non-flying staff were covered. At that time, around 4,200 employees were eligible and out of them, around 1,500 people opted for the offer, the sources said.

In September last year, Air India announced the transformation plan Vihaan.AI which focuses on various goals to be achieved over a five-year period.

The plan is aimed at putting Air India on a path of sustained growth, profitability and market leadership.