Air India considering voluntary redundancy for thousands of staff members
Air India officials are mulling a proposal to offer more than a third of all employees voluntary severance packages in a bid to make a sale of the airline more attractive.
That could amount to about 15,000 members of staff.
"Nothing has been finalised but our aim is to make the strategic sale as simple as we can," a senior official said, adding that all current investment plans would be put on hold.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said he wanted to see AI making cuts and improving efficiencies across all areas of the business.
"The idea is to present a robust company to potential buyers," he said.
AI will scrap current fleet expansion plans and cancel a proposal to lease eight Boeing 787 wide-body aircraft.
The Indian government is keen to offload the national carrier but acknowledges it is simply a bad deal for any investor in its current bloated form.
The government admits it will likely only find suitors for its better performing business units such as the lucrative international route network, its low cost Air India Express unit and its more valuable real estate holdings.
Unions have unsurprisingly signalled their opposition.
"The government will propose a voluntary retirement scheme and we will throw their proposal in the dustbin," said JB Kadian, leader of a union that represents about 8,000 non-technical staff.
Kadian said his and other unions will join forces for ‘an agitation’ next month if the government presses ahead to privatise the airline.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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