At Vistara, some employees are caught in merger turbulence
Mint’s query regarding this board meeting. Cut to 2024. There is a sea-change in how employee concerns are now being handled, several people Mint spoke to alleged.
Some employees, particularly pilots, have been offered a ‘take it or leave it’ deal as Vistara merges with Air India, the airline the Tata Group took over in January 2022. What we found was significant discontent and anxiety about the future among a section of the staff. The issue came to the fore earlier this month after Vistara had to cancel nearly 30-50 flights per day—pilots started to report sick, in protest against a new pay policy first announced in February this year.
The Tata Group is seeking to implement a uniform pay structure, which effectively reduces the salaries of Vistara pilots by bringing them at par with Air India. Under the new structure, already followed at Air India, the pilots of Vistara will get a fixed salary for 40 hours a month, instead of 70 hours they received earlier. In addition, pilots will receive payment in lieu of extra flying hours and rewards based on the years of service.
The new structure would result in a monthly pay reduction between ₹80,000 and ₹1.4 lakh for first officers or junior pilots, they estimated. Some unhappy pilots negotiated with the management but an ultimatum came in mid-March to agree to the new structure. “The problem is not so much with senior pilots or commanders.
It is mainly with junior pilots like us. Also, there is no clarity on our career progression, or upgrading to flying long-haul on bigger aircraft," said a first officer who did not want to be identified. Senior pilots are more in demand because there is a shortage in the industry.
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