Air India Express plane.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Air India Express has issued termination letters to around 25 cabin crew members who reported sick that led to the cancellation of more than 90 flights, airline sources said on May 9.

The Tata Group-owned airline has also given an ultimatum to the remaining cabin crew members reporting sick to join back duty by 4 p.m. on May 9 or face termination, they added.

Air India Express has also cancelled at least 60 flights for May 9 due to the non-availability of cabin crew, the sources said and added that mass leaves by a section of the cabin crew have caused immense inconvenience to passengers.

There are around 1,400 cabin crew, including about 500 at the senior level, at the airline.

Over 200 cabin crew started reporting sick from Tuesday night to protest against alleged mismanagement at the airline that caused the cancellation of over 90 flights.

New Delhi:

Air India Express on Thursday cancelled at least 74 flights as a section of cabin crew was fired, a day after nearly 300 employees of the airline called in sick and switched off their phones.

Flights that were cancelled were on domestic and international routes and were scheduled to fly from Chennai to Kolkata, Chennai to Singapore, Trichy to Singapore, and Jaipur to Mumbai. Scores of flights were also delayed on key routes.

The cabin crew shortage at the low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Air India now owned by the Tata group, has resulted in the cancellations of more than 100 flights since Tuesday and about 15,000 passengers have been reportedly affected.

The Air India Express employees have been protesting against the new employment terms, according to sources.

The crew, the sources said, has alleged a lack of equality in the treatment of staff and claimed that some staff members have been offered lower job roles despite clearing interviews for senior positions.

The crew has also flagged some modifications in their compensation package. The developments come as the airline is in the middle of a merger with AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India.

Air India Express To Curtail Flights

As the flight delays and cancellations snowballed into a full-blown crisis, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh said that the number of flights being operated will be reduced over the next few days.

“The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing us to curtail the schedules over the next few days. We had to do this to cope with the non-availability of crew and to recover schedules,” Mr Singh wrote to employees.

In his letter, he said that over 100 cabin crew members had reported sick, severely disrupting operations, and that the impact was “disproportionate” because the action was taken by senior employees.

“This act is certainly not representative of the 2,000-odd cabin crew colleagues in the company who continue to respond to the call of duty and serve our guests with dedication and pride. I am thankful to all who are standing by the airline in this hour of crisis,” he added.

An Air India Express spokesperson said on Wednesday that the management is engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind the mass leave and added that they are working to minimise inconvenience to the fliers.

Air India Express Fires 30 Cabin Crew Members

Air India Express has now sacked at least 30 cabin crew after they called in sick at the last minute. The termination letter issued to them said that the mass leave “clearly points to a pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason”.

“Your act is not only subversive of public interest, but has also caused embarrassment, severe reputational damage, and serious monetary loss to the Company. Your act of reporting sick for work amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding, to not operate the flight and to disrupt the services of the Company. This is not only in violation of the applicable laws but also violates the Air India Express Limited Employees’ Service Rules as are applicable to you,” the letter said.

According to sources, the management has given all the Air India Express employees on mass leave a deadline of 4 pm (Thursday) to return to work or face action.

The management is also likely to hold a town hall meeting with cabin crew members on Thursday evening.

Representational image of an Air India express aircraft
| Photo Credit: G. RAMAKRISHNA

Air India Express has cancelled “scores of flights” due to a shortage of cabin crew members as a section of them are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, according to sources.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.

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The sources on Wednesday said several cabin crew members started reporting sick since Monday evening and as there are not enough cabin crew members, “scores of flights” have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Kozhikode and Bengaluru.

Late last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

Many passengers took to social media on Wednesday complaining about the sudden cancellation of flights.

In response to a passenger’s post on X about flight cancellation, Air India Express apologised and said the flight was cancelled “due to operational reasons”.

“As part of our service recovery process, you can either opt to reschedule the flight within the next 7 days or request a full refund through our chat bot Tia…,” the airline said in a post on X.

The development at Air India Express comes a month after Tata Group full-service carrier Vistara witnessed pilot woes, forcing it to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily.

As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India.

Over 70 Air India Express flights were canceled on Wednesday after the cabin crew members went on a “mass sick leave”, official sources said.

As many as 79 international and domestic flights were canceled after about 300 senior cabin crew members reported sick at the last minute and switched off their mobile phones.

The Air India Express management is currently trying to reach out to the crew, who are protesting against the new employment term at the Tata Group-owned airline, sources said.

“A section of our cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result,” an Air India Express spokesperson said.

“We sincerely apologise to our guests for this unexpected disruption and emphasise that this situation does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide,” the spokesperson added.

Guests impacted by cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date, the airline said.

Several passengers took to their social media accounts and complained about the sudden cancellations of their flights. They said that they had “no information” about the cancellations.

Some “very disappointed” passengers on X said that they had reached the airport when they were informed that their flights were canceled.

 “We apologise for any inconvenience. Please be informed that your flight has been canceled due to operational reasons,” Air India Express said in response to one of the posts on X.

Last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline was being mismanaged and there was a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.