After mass sick leave taken by cabin crew members, Air India Express has reportedly terminated the employment of around 30 staff who did not report for duty on Wednesday. The protesting cabin crew members had reported being sick, resulting in more than 90 flight cancellations and delays, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at various airports since Tuesday night.
"Your act of reporting sick for work amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding, to not operate the flight and to disrupt 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," read the termination letter of the Air India Express employee.
Chief Labour Commissioner calls meeting with Airline's Union and CEO
Following the termination of approximately 30 crew members last night, the Chief Labour Commissioner has summoned a meeting with the Air India Express union and CEO on Thursday. Meanwhile, Air India Express Spokesperson said that the airline is making every possible effort to minimise the inconvenience caused to our guests by this unexpected situation. "We will be operating 283 flights today. We have mobilised all resources and Air India will support us by operating on 20 of our routes. However, 85 of our flights stand cancelled and we urge our guests booked to fly with us to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport. If their flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond 3 hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees on Tia on WhatsApp (+91 6360012345) or on airindiaexpress.com."
Air India Express to curtail flights
Meanwhile, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh said that the airline will curtail flights for the next few days to cope with the non-availability of crew members. In a message to the airline's staff, Singh said that more than 100 cabin crew members have reported sick prior to their rostered flight duty, "at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations".
Civil Aviation Ministry seeks report
On Wednesday, the civil aviation ministry sought a report from Air India Express on the cancellation of flights and asked them to resolve issues promptly. The airline has also been advised to ensure facilities to passengers as per DGCA norms. The airline, which is in the process of merging AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) with itself, is to operate 360 daily flights during the summer schedule that started in the last week of March.
Union alleges mismanagement and inequality at airline
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 had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.
It should be mentioned here that 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. On Wednesday, many passengers took to social media complaining about the sudden cancellation of flights by Air India Express.
(With inputs from agencies)
