AI Express sacks 25 crew members; disruptions continue, 74 flights cancelled

Air India Express sacked 25 of its crew members, who went on “sick leave” on Wednesday in protest against the merger with AirAsia India, calling the abstention “pre-meditated and concerted” and without “any justifiable reason” even as disruptions continued with the cancellation of 74 flights on Thursday. At least 160 flights have been cancelled since Wednesday.
An Air India Express statement said the airline was making every possible effort to minimise the inconvenience caused to guests and that it operated 283 flights on Thursday. “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.”
The statement said if flights are cancelled, or delayed beyond three hours, passengers may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees.
“While we will continue to engage with our cabin crew colleagues with a commitment to address any concern, we are taking appropriate steps against certain individuals as their actions have caused grave inconvenience to thousands of our guests.”
The statement was issued hours after the Tata Group-owned airline issued termination letters late on Wednesday. A termination letter said, “….you were rostered for a flight on 07.05.2024. However, you informed the Scheduling team at the last moment that you were unwell and accordingly reported sick…” It noted that at or around the same time, an overwhelming number of other cabin crew members also reported sick and did not report for their duties. “This clearly points to a pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason…As a result of …a large number of flights had to be cancelled thereby disrupting the entire schedule, which caused tremendous inconvenience to the Company’s esteemed passengers,” said the letter, a copy of which HT has seen. “Your act is not only subversive of public interest, but has also caused embarrassment, severe reputational damage, and serious monetary loss to the Company.”
The letter said reporting sick amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding to not operate the flight and to disrupt the services of the company, which is a violation of the rules and laws. The airline said that reporting sick and not being available for sick is a violation of the employment contract.
In April, Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, too, cancelled flights due to crew unavailability. It was later forced to scale down operations after pilots called in sick en masse.
A section of Air Indian Express cabin crew reported sick at the last minute, starting Tuesday night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. An Air India Express spokesperson on Wednesday said the airline was engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences while addressing any inconvenience to guests.
In a letter to employees, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh said the strike was by about 100 staffers, which led “disproportionate” impact on 90 plus flights, “even though other colleagues reported for duty”.
Singh maintained the act was not representative of the 2,000-odd cabin crew colleagues in the company who continue to respond to the call of duty and serve guests with dedication and pride.
Air India Express operates over 2,500 flights weekly across 31 domestic and 14 international airports. It has a fleet of over 70 aircraft comprising Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s. The airline has 2,600 cabin crew out of which 327 reported sick on Wednesday, said an official with the airline.
All the 327 who reported sick are senior cabin crew. They reported being sick a few hours before their flights and then switched off their phones. HT reported the cabin crew have been protesting the alleged mismanagement of the airline during the merger process which is feared to cost jobs. There were major cancellations at all airports in southern India. In Delhi, 14 flights were cancelled until 4pm on Wednesday.
The government on Wednesday said it had sought a report from the airline and asked it to resolve issues promptly while advising facilities to passengers.