PTI

Mumbai, November 20

Air India has given an choice to the cabin crew who has opted for voluntary retirement scheme to increase their tenure till January 31 subsequent 12 months, amid scarcity of cabin crew and lengthy ready interval for US visas, in line with sources.

The Tata group-owned airline, which is being revived with increasing fleet and routes, supplied Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to its staff, together with the cabin crew, in June this 12 months. The relieving date for individuals who opted for the VRS was fastened as November 30.

The sources stated round 4,500 staff had utilized for the scheme.

“The release date from the services of the company for VRS crew has been extended. Crew members may choose to extend their release date till January 31, 2023,” the airline stated in a communication on Saturday.

A question despatched to Air India in search of feedback on the matter remained unanswered.

According to the communication, the VRS scheme stays unchanged and the VRS profit will likely be relevant to staff who’re extending their launch date.

Now, Air India has given three launch dates for the VRS crew — November 30, December 1 and January 31, 2023. The individuals involved have been given time until November 22 to substantiate their date of launch.

The precise date of launch will likely be on the discretion of the administration, as per the communication.

The sources stated that Air India is dealing with an acute scarcity of cabin crew owing to the VRS scheme. “The airline requires some 500 cabin crew  amid its plans to expand the wide-body aircraft fleet and launch new long and ultra long haul flights,” one of many sources stated.

Moreover, as there’s a lengthy ready interval for the US visas, extending the service tenure of those cabin crew who’ve opted for VRS is the one possibility to make sure that there are sufficient crew obtainable for numerous flights, the sources stated.

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