Air India's new owner may be allowed to trim fleet size, lay off staff

The central government is likely to make it easier for the new owner of Air India (AI) to trim the national carrier’s fleet size by hiving off surplus aircraft lying grounded, even as the aviation sector waits for the pandemic’s vise-like grip to loosen.

Since the skies are far from clear, the new owner will also be allowed to lay off employees, given their requirement will shrink with the reduction in the fleet size, said officials in the know.

While the current rules of the airline’s disinvestment mandate that the new owner will have to guarantee employment to all personnel up to