Air India Express terminates some staffers over conflict with cabin crew

Air India Express

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.

Emails sent to Air India Express remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

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.

"In view of the above, the company has decided to terminate your employment with immediate effect on and from the date of this letter," the letter read.

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.

"Your act is not only subversive of public interest, but also caused embarrassment, severe reputational damage, and serious monetary loss to the company," the letter read.

Earlier on May 8, budget carrier Air India Express in an internal email by chief executive officer Aloke Singh said that the airline will cut down flights over the next few days as a significant number of cabin crew reported sick just before their scheduled duties.

In a message to the airline's staff, Singh said since last evening, more than 100 cabin crew members have reported sick prior to their rostered flight duty, "at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations".

More than 90 flights have been disrupted due to the situation, he added. "The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing us to curtail the schedules over the next few days. We had to do this to cope with the non-availability of crew and to recover schedules," Singh said.

Air India Express will look to operate 40 fewer flights from the 250-400 flights it operates every day till May 13.

Singh also said the company leadership is available for any discussions if there are concerns that need to be addressed. "All comms channels remain open - departmental townhalls (one pre-scheduled for tomorrow), monthly all-hands townhall besides formal and informal reach out to leaders," he said.

"Senior cabin crew colleagues who have seen the airline evolve from a small, niche operator to what we are today - a rapidly growing 350+ flights-a-day carrier, with a strong network footprint across India, Gulf and SE Asia - have a deeper stake in helping build and achieve the vision we have set for ourselves," he said.

Since May 7, around 200 cabin crew members have reported sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline, resulting in cancellation of more than 100 flights and delay of many flights.

Around 15,000 passengers have been impacted by the cancellations and there was chaos at many airports.

"A section of our cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. While 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 as a result," the Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement on May 8.

Apologising to the customers for the "unexpected disruption", the spokesperson said those impacted by the cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date.

Late last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

Employees of Air India Express have complained of room sharing, lack of proper support, revised salary structure and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members and mismanagement are among the issues being flagged by a section of the senior cabin crew members.

Air India Express operates over 2,500 flights weekly across 31 domestic and 14 international airports, with 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 May 8.