Tata-owned Air India has been ordered by the Bombay HC to wait till October 28 before initiating action against employees who refuse to vacate their staff quarters.
The employee has also said the airline took steps to disrupt the water supply provided to its staff colonies in Mumbai and Delhi and began forcible eviction.
The letter sent by Air India Colony Bachav Samiti to the top management of four companies, including private carrier Air India and Air India Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL) said, “It is clear that you are using the strong-arm tactic to evict the colony residents without following the due process of law.”
The employees residing in the airline’s four staff quarters in Kalina colony threatened to file a police complaint in the next 24 hours if the water supply disruption continues in accordance with the letter sent to the airline management.
“We would like to know within 24 hours whether the said action has your consent and concurrence. In case we do not receive any response from you within the stipulated time, we will be constrained to file a police complaint and if required move court/forum,” the letter added.
An Air India spokesperson said: “We would not like to make any comment on this as the matter is subjudice.”
Earlier, Air India was offering Voluntary Retirement Scheme to its thousands of employees who have completed 55 years of age or 20 years of continuous service in the company.
Before the pandemic, the airline 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.
Air India has its headquarters 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.
