NEW DELHI: Air India Express has terminated the contract of as many as 25 senior cabin crew members who ‘reported sick' on Tuesday and Wednesday. The airline, in its internal note to terminated employees, said that their act was "pre-meditated” and this “caused tremendous inconvenience to the Company's esteemed passengers.”
“This is in reference to your employment with Air India Express Limited ("Company") in the capacity of Cabin Crew Executive. It has been reported that 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 reporting sick. It is noted that at or around the same time, an overwhelming number of other cabin crew members have also reported sick and have not reported for their duties. This clearly points to a pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason,” the note said.
This stiff action from the Tata Group airline comes as it had to cancel over 100 flights due to a shortage of cabin crew members. Not satisfied with the changes in their contract and alleging mismanagement by the airline, around 300 senior cabin crew members reported mass sick leaves on Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to disruption in services.
An Air India Express Spokesperson said on Thursday that they are taking every possible effort to minimise the inconvenience caused to guests by this unexpected situation. The airline will be operating 283 flights on Thursday as they are cancelling about 85 flights.
“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. 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,” said the spokesperson.
The airline in its termination note told terminated employees that their 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 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….In view of the above, the Company has decided to terminate your employment with immediate effect…” the note stated.
Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at Air India Express for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself. The dispute is said to have its roots to a new merit-based assessment system for employees.
Late last month, a group of Air India Express cabin crew had alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff. They also complained about nepotism when it comes to promotion and impromptu termination of senior employees. Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), which has around 300 cabin crew members, on April 26 wrote a letter addressed to Tata Group and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
The grievances of the staff were supported by the Regional Labour Commissioner of New Delhi, Ashok Perumalla, who pointed "blatant violations of labour laws" at the airline. Stating that the concerns of the Union are genuine, Perumulla on May 3 wrote in a mail directed to Chandrasekaran, "The management of Air India Express has not sent any responsible decision-makers to any of the conciliation proceedings. Mismanagement and blatant violations of labour laws were apparent."
The fresh trouble at a Tata group airline comes soon after another group airline Vistara faced a similar situation. The full-service carrier was forced to cancel 10% of its daily flights in April (25-30 flights per day) to normalise operation. Vistara took this decision following a shortage of pilots who started reporting sick leaves in the first week of April to show their dissatisfaction towards a revised salary structure “forced upon them”.
