A decision on the future of Vistara is yet to be taken as its promoters Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines are still under discussions, Chairman of Vistara’s parent company Tata Sia Airlines Ltd Bhaskar Bhat told its employees last week at a townhall meeting, sources told The Indian Express.
Sources said that the townhall meeting was organised mainly to assure Vistara employees, who were concerned about their future after last week Air India announced a voluntary retirement scheme for its staffers.
Last month, The Indian Express had reported that Tata Sons has held exploratory talks with Singapore Airlines, it’s joint-venture partner in Indian full-service airline Vistara, for a potential merger between newly-acquired Air India and Vistara. There are indications that SIA has asked for time till end of 2023 to decide whether it want to go ahead with the merger or not. Vistara is a 51:49 joint-venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.
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An e-mail query sent to Vistara seeking comments for this story did not elicit a response.
Bhat, who is a long-time Tata executive, is also learnt to have told Vistara employees that the VRS scheme was for Air India’s old employees and that Vistara staff should not worry since the average age of employees at the airline was around 27-28 years.
In an attempt to bring in efficiency in its functioning, Tata Group-owned Air India has announced a VRS for permanent employees, who have completed 55 years of age or 20 years of continuous service with the airline. This move will help the airline let go about 3,000 employees.
Additionally, for some cabin crew, clerical and unskilled staffers, the VRS eligibility age has been relaxed from 55 years to 40 years. “An ex-gratia amount will also be provided to the aforementioned employees, who apply for Voluntary…