Tata-owned Air India has come up with a plan for pilots and has offered to re-hire pilots after their retirement for five years.
The airline looks for stability in operations amid talk of acquiring 300 single-aisle planes, according to internal communication.
The airline is looking for stability and promising employees and also is considering re-hiring these pilots as commanders, it said.
Deputy General Manager for Personnel, Vikas Gupta, said in an internal mail, “We are pleased to inform you are being considered for the post-retirement contract as commander in Air India for a period of 5 years or till you attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.”
“During the period of the post-retirement contract, you will be paid the remuneration and flying allowances, as admissible, as per the policy of Air India to such appointments,” he said.
Air India has sent the communication to the pilots who retired up to three years ago. Interested pilots have been told to submit their details along with written consent by June 23, the mail stated.
The retirement age for pilots in Air India is 58 whereas pilots at other private airlines fly until they reach the age of 65 years.
Before the pandemic, Air India used to re-hire its retired pilots on contract but the practice was discontinued after late March 2020. The contracts of such pilots were also terminated to partially offset the impact of the pandemic.
This development comes in the mid of an airline had announced Voluntary Retirement Scheme for its thousands of employees who have completed 55 years of age or 20 years of continuous service in the company.
The airline is trying to get employees to come forward and take the option and also for some sections of employees company is offering additional benefits to lower the retirement age.
Air India has its headquarter is in New Delhi. The airline connects 70 international and 100 domestic destinations. The airline has around 12,000 employees, of which approximately 8,000 are permanent and 4,000 contractual.
