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20 months after Tata takeover, Air India closes its Sector 34 office
According to sources, the Chandigarh Estate Office had asked Air India to hand over the building after its privatisation
Air India has closed down its office in Sector 34 over four decades after it was set up in 1980.
Although the UT administration had leased the building to Air India for 99 years, the airline was asked to hand over the structure after Air India was taken over by Tata Sons in January 2022.
The employees were given the option to shift to other offices, but most of them opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
According to sources, the UT Estate Office had asked Air India to hand over the building after its privatisation. The building’s market value is around ₹35 crore. The office, constructed by the airline, has six floors, including a basement. A senior Air India officer, who opted for VRS, said that there were around 100 employees working in the office and in the past year, only 20 were left. Out of these, most opted for VRS and the office had now been closed, he added.
He added that as far as the dispute of the building was concerned, the issue was between the UT Estate Office and the civil aviation ministry.
As the office was popular for ticket bookings, commuters are now buying tickets through online platforms or visiting Air India counters at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh.
Cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Ratinder Singh Sodhi, who were working at the office as assistant general managers, had also opted for VRS a few years ago.
Tata Sons took control of Air India from the Union government in January 2022, the formal homecoming for India’s first airline born in the company in 1932 before it was nationalised nearly 70 years ago and began a turbulent journey that pushed its economic viability to the brink.
