Tata-owned Air India will have to wait until after March to implement new employment policies aimed at improving accountability and inculcating a culture of performance, executives close to the development said. The airline is fighting allegations of insufficient action taken against a drunk man who urinated on a fellow business class passenger on a flight from New York to Delhi on November 26.

On Monday, the regulator sent further notices to the airline about a passenger who urinated on another’s blanket on a flight from Paris to Delhi on December 6, as well as a person who smoked in the toilet.

According to the takeover agreement signed with the government in January last year, Tata is not allowed to change the “employment conditions” of Air India employees for one year. Any significant change in policy may not be implemented until after March 2023, officials close to the development said. A new service contract was due to be implemented from January 1 but was postponed due to union opposition.

Air India did not comment. The airline is working on a comprehensive stock option policy to incentivize employees and improve performance. Tata Motors is the other group company with such a policy.

Tata took over the airline a year ago after its privatization and plans to restore Air India’s reputation and expand its network by strengthening in-flight services, beautifying interiors and buying hundreds of new aircraft.

The airline’s new management team has entered into a service agreement that includes performance metrics and key results areas, one of the people cited above said. Change will happen faster when employees know they are accountable and are evaluated for their performance, the executive said.

Unions are likely to question the new policy and have already written to the Chief Labor Commissioner saying any change in terms of service will be illegal as there are ongoing industrial disputes. Air India will also move from a decentralized regional structure to a new centralized function one for more accountability, Chief Executive Campbell Wilson had previously said.

The management is trying to change the culture of the former state-owned airline. While some employees are said to have resisted change with union support, others have adopted new processes and behaviors that new management is trying to implement through various programs, executives said.

“Tatas doesn’t have a hire-and-fire culture,” said one executive. “Air India has therefore created indirect recognition programs to reward customer-centric behavior and encourage accountability by taking ownership of the results. We focus on implementing the Tata Code of Conduct by eliminating bias and prejudice within the organization. We encourage interactive feedback and asking employees to look at facts and data and not be swayed by rumor and speculation.”

As part of the rewards program, several employees received Diwali and New Year money rewards.

In addition, Air India plans to hire as a significant number of employees are set to retire in the coming months. This includes campus recruitment starting this month. The proposed integration of Vistara along with its employees will also support cultural change, officials said.