Staff issues weigh heavy on Nacil

A year and a huge sum of money down the drain, the government’s plan to put state carriers back on track remains grounded. More than a year after the erstwhile Air India and Indian merged under the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil), the carriers are still bogged down due to employees-related issues.
Sample this: The carrier lost 11,521 man-hours due to staffers of various departments going on strike in 2007-08. Key departments such as engineering, commercial and operations are yet to begin operations. A few directors and senior employees have not yet shifted base and keep shuttling between their present station and area of new posting at the company's expense. The plan to surrender office space at various locations, domestic and international, to save on rentals has also failed with many unwilling to move.
At the time of merger in August 2007, the then chairman and managing director V Thulasidas admitted that the biggest challenge that the two public-owned carriers will face is the integration of the huge employee base. The carrier, after merger, had an employee base of more than 34,000 making it one of the largest employers in the country and the airline with highest number of employees per aircraft in the world.
There is no cohesion in the functioning of the company with personnel still working as employees of two separate airlines as is with key areas.
The carrier saw seven strikes within the first six months of the merger being approved by the Cabinet in February 2007. All this despite of civil aviation minister Praful Patel and Thulasidas assuring none of the employees, including the unions, would lose their jobs.
The carrier is already reassessing its employee base and cost cutting measures to increase productivity and efficiency. The reassessment includes outsourced manpower across all the firm's operational areas.
10/09/08 Shauvik Ghosh/Financial Express

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Categories: NACIL Sep 2008