The tussle between around 300 cabin crew members and the Air India Express management, which had led to the cancellation of over 170 flights since Tuesday night, has come to an end. The two parties smoked the peace pipe after a detailed discussion at the Chief Labour Commissioner’s office in New Delhi.
The union representing a section of Air India Express employees said the cabin crew who reported sick would return to work while the airline management agreed to reinstate 25 crew members who were terminated over the protests.
"After detailed discussions deliberation, persuasion and on appeal of Conciliation Officer and Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), the representative of the union (members of cabin crew) agreed that all the cabin crew members who have reported sick will report for duty with fitness certificate immediately," said a statement released by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) office.
"On appeal of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), the management agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew who have been terminated on 07th and 08th May 2024 for reporting sick as a concerted action immediately. The management will review the cases of these cabin crew as per service regulations," the statement added.
The Labour Commissioner's office said the Air India Express management has given an assurance that all the issues raised by the cabin crew before the management and during conciliation proceedings would be looked into and resolved.
"We are pleased with the progress we made at the conciliation meeting and welcome our cabin crew colleagues back at work. This will help us swiftly restore our flight schedule and fulfil our commitments to our guests. We sincerely apologise to those inconvenienced by these unintended disruptions. It is not in keeping with our usual service standards, and we will review it internally to ensure accountability,” said an Air India Express spokesperson.