Air India is set to introduce a revised layover policy for cabin crew members on both domestic and international flights, requiring certain sections of the crew to share rooms during layovers. This policy will also apply to Air India Express, which has merged AIX Connect with itself, news agency PTI reported citing a source.
Additionally, allowances for cabin crew on international flights will also be raised from the current USD 75-125 range to USD 85-135. However, allowances for domestic flight crews will remain unchanged. An airline spokesperson noted that with the formal merger of Air India and Vistara, there is a need to harmonize policies for employees across both airlines.
"As part of that exercise, we have communicated the changes applicable to Air India employees. The revised compensation and benefits continue to be competitive and benchmarked to industry standards," the spokesperson said in a statement. Under the revised policy, cabin crew members, excluding in-flight managers and executives, will have to share rooms during layovers, the source said.
In-flight managers and executives are generally senior people with at least 8-9 years of experience. While room sharing for cabin crew is already there at Air India Express and Vistara, this will be the first time such a practice will be introduced at the Tata Group-owned loss-making Air India.
The changes in the policy also come against the backdrop of a section of Air India Express cabin crew members seeking redressal of their HR issues under the labour law. The case is in progress before the Central Labour Commissioner. Meanwhile, the Air India spokesperson also mentioned about the airline introducing a performance-linked compensation and benefits policy for all employees in April 2023. The merger of AIX Connect with Air India Express was completed on October 1 while the integration of Vistara with Air India will be completed next month.
(With PTI inputs)
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