Ahead of the full service carrier’s merger with Air India, Vistara has provided voluntary retirement as well as voluntary separation plans for its non-flying employees, officials say.
Vistara, a joint company between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, employs about 6,500 people, both contract and permanent staff.
Offered for the non-flying permanent personnel are the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). Those qualified employees can apply for the programs until August 23, they said.
VRS is for individuals who have served five years; VSS is for the staff members still to serve the airline five years from now.
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The plans resemble those presented by Air India controlled by Tata Group earlier this month.
Pilots, cabin crew, and those licensed to perform their responsibilities are not eligible for the schemes.
Vistara had no public remarks on the plans. The airline began its flights in 2015.
According to earlier this month’s sources, the two airlines’ mega-merger is projected to affect 600 non-flying staff of Air India and Vistara; hence, attempts would be made to give the impacted employees inside Air India group and Tata enterprises employment possibilities.
Together, Air India and Vistara, owned by Tata Group, have more over 23,000 staff members. Loss-making full-service carriers also employ others.
Concurrent with this, the fit-up exercise—which evaluates the roles and duties of employees of both airlines—in the run-up to the merger has been ongoing for the past few months. The exercise considers personal experience, performance, and other elements as well as past background.
About the proposed merger, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson and Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan hosted a one-and- a-half-hour town hall conference with staff of both companies on May 12.
Wilson and Kannan also reassured at that time that existing staff members were being assigned based on merit and competency, therefore ensuring their fitment into the new system.
Announced in November 2022, the merging will result in one of the largest airline groups. Singapore Airlines would hold a 25.1% share in Air India after the purchase closes. Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group co-own Vistara as a joint venture.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) cleared the merger in June; in March, Singapore’s competition authority CCCS provided a conditional approval for the proposed transaction.
Subject to certain restrictions, the deal approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) earlier in September 2023.
