Air India Express cancels over 90 flights, leaves passengers stranded
KOCHI: Uncertainty over the flight schedules of Air India Express is likely to continue as its senior cabin crew members are set to press on with their protest against the management, alleging “pay cuts, mismanagement and disrespect”. The impasse led to cancellation of over 90 flights across the country on Wednesday after over 300 senior cabin crew went oin ‘sick leave’ from Tuesday night.
The cancellation of services resulted in hundreds of passengers being stranded at airports.
According to union leaders, the protest is likely to continue till the management agrees to discuss the matter with the cabin crew. “Until Wednesday evening, there has been no approach from the management end to discuss the matter. Therefore, the cabin crew of the Air India Express will continue the protest. More flights are likely to be cancelled in the coming days if the matter is not resolved,” said K K Vijaykumar, Air India Express Employees’ Union (BMS).
Last-minute cancellations resulted in passengers protesting at airports, especially those travelling to Gulf region for work-related purposes. Indicating disruptions in the coming days, an AI-Express spokesperson said: “We request guests booked to fly with us to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport.”
In a late-night development, the management terminated some of the crew members who called in sick, citing violation of contract terms.
Crew on ‘sick leave’
Over 300 senior cabin crew members went on ‘sick leave’, protesting alleged pay cuts and mismanagement
Management trying to resolve issue: Air India Express spokesperson
According to sources, a curtailed schedule will be rolled out over the next few days due to the non-availability of crew. “Around 300 cabin crew went on sick leave as a protest against the management. Most of the flights in the Gulf region and the domestic sector have been cancelled,” said a source.
As many as 12 flights from Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode and 10 from Kochi were cancelled, affecting trips to Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat, Bahrain, Dammam, and domestic sectors on Wednesday. Due to the cancellations, many missed connection flights from other airports and had to book tickets on other flights paying double the price.
Several passengers took to social media to vent their anger against Air India Express. Anoop Govind, a finance professional, complained on social media that his parents would miss the international connection flight from Bengaluru as the flight from Thiruvananthapuram was cancelled. Passengers of the Thiruvananthapuram - Sharjah flight came to know about the cancellation only after they waited for onboarding at the security gate. They expressed their anguish at the sudden change in plans and the lack of response from Air India Express management in arranging alternative flights. Meanwhile, the spokesperson of Air India Express said the passengers will be given a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date within seven days.
The spokesperson said the management is trying to resolve the matter as a “small section of its cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute”. “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. Guests impacted by cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date. Guests flying with us today (Wednesday) are requested to check if their flight is affected, before heading to the airport,” said the spokesperson. Explaining the issue, Vijaykumar said discontent had been brewing among the cabin crew of Air India Express after Tata took over the airline in January 2022.
“After the acquisition, the management reduced the contract period of many cabin crew from five years to one year and brought a reduction of 25-30% in their salary,” said Vijaykumar. As part of cost-cutting, the management introduced a shared room facility for cabin crew who work on different shifts. “ As per the labour law, the workers need uninterrupted rest while working in the aviation sector. However, putting two workers in different shifts in a single room has caused issues. The cabin crew had requested the management to avoid this and insisted on offering them 3-star decent single accommodation instead of 5-star if cost-cutting was their aim. However, these requests fell on deaf ears,” he said. “A few months ago, the cabin crew had reported the matter to the chairman of Tata, Natarajan Chandrasekharan. Also, the Joint Labour Commissioner of India informed the management that the requirements of the employees are genuine and the matter should be resolved in their favour, no response has come so far,” said Vijaykumar.
‘Check flight status’
According to Air India Express, “guests may visit the ‘Flight Status’ section on our website for real-time information. 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 (chatbot) on WhatsApp (+91 6360012345) or on airindiaexpress.com.”
AI Express flight cancellations: Satheesan writes to Scindia
T’Puram: Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has written to Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia on the imbroglio created by the Air India Express employees who went on a strike affecting several thousand passengers. In the letter, Satheesan urged Scindia’s prompt action in resolving the bottleneck caused by Air India Express’ unjustified cancellation of many international and domestic services from Kerala. Terming the lighting protest as “appalling”, Satheesan recalled that hundreds of passengers, have been stuck at various airports in Kerala as a result of Air India’s decision.
(With inputs from T’Puram)