Air India Express says 85 flights stand cancelled on Thursday amid cabin crew shortage

Air India Express cancels 74 flights as operations disrupted for second day

Air India Express said 85 flights stand cancelled as of May 9 as flight operations were disrupted by cabin crew taking sick leave this week.

The airline said it is operating 292 flights and Air India will support by operating on 20 routes.

"Taking appropriate steps against certain individuals whose actions have caused grave inconvenience to guests," said the airline.

The airline also assured the passengers saying 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.

Amid the ongoing standoff between Air India Express and a section of its cabin crew that led to the cancellation of nearly 100 flights on May 8, the airline management has let go of some senior crew members who "reported sick" disrupting flight operations, according to sources close to the development.

"This clearly points to a pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason," read a letter from the management seen by Moneycontrol. It added that the pre-meditated abstention lead to the cancellation of a large number of flights and thereby disruption of the airline's schedule.

According to a senior Air India Express executive and cabin crew Monyecontrol spoke to, the termination letters were sent to around 20 employees on May 8.

In a letter of termination sent to employees, which Moneycontrol has seen, on May 8, the airline stated that it had decided to terminate the contract of employees after a number of airline crew members reported sick at the eleventh hour.

It also accused the cabin crew's actions of being subversive of public interest and said that their actions caused "embarrassment, severe reputational damage, and serious monetary loss" to the airline.