Air India plans to re-deploy excess staff to cut costs

Mumbai: The national carrier Air India has decided to transfer employees from departments which have excess workforce to under-staffed sections as it looks at options to reduce costs. Talking to ET, Air India’s chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav said the airline had outlined a blueprint to redeploy staff among its various departments. He, however, declined to share further details.
Air India’s annual wage bill for 32,000 employees stands at Rs 3,000 crore. Salary payment is the second-largest component in the loss-making company’s operating cost after the fuel bill. A senior Air India official said the board of the company was expected to discuss the re-deployment plan at its meetings on Friday and Saturday. Trade unions of the company had agreed to reshuffle employees among departments, he added.
The board would also discuss the proposal to cut salary by 15%, which, if implemented, would result in saving of Rs 400 crore in next financial year. This is part of the airline’s plan to cut costs by about Rs 1,900 crore. Air India has not hired for past two decades, which resulted in shortage of staff in many departments. However, there are some sections having excess workforce. “The airline is loosing technical operational hands and engineers as many are retiring,” said Mr Jadhav.
07/01/10 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: NACIL Jan 2010