Air India Express cabin crew to call off protest leave, airline to reinstate 25 sacked

Air India Express has agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew who were terminated after a large number of them reported “sick” since May 6, while the flight crew have agreed to report to duty

Air India Express has agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew who were terminated after a large number of them reported “sick” since May 6, while the flight crew have agreed to report to duty following a meeting mediated by the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) in New Delhi on May 9.

The representatives of the airline management have also assured that all the issues raised by the cabin crew pertaining to alleged discrimination emanating from the merger with erstwhile AirAsia India and removal of allowances will be resolved. The CLC will hold another meeting on May 28 on the matter.

On the third day of the protest on “leave”, Air India Express was forced to cancel 85 flights across its network. Another Tata Group airline Air India supported it by operating flights on 20 of its routes, according to a media statement issued by Air India Express.

The CLC called a conciliation meeting after over 200 cabin crew at Air India Express started reporting “sick” from May 6 resulting in flight disruptions.

In one of the letters addressed to a cabin crew late on May 8 informing him of his immediate termination, the airline said, “Your act of reporting sick for work amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding to not operate the flight and 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.”

The Air India Express cabin crew are unhappy over “preferential treatment” for employees of the erstwhile AirAsia India resulting in certain postings granted to the latter. They also complained about unfair contractual terms which offered Air India Express an employment of one or five years, while those from AirAsia India could remain employed till they turned 58 years. They also rued removal of certain allowances including, House Rent Allowance, Dearness Allowance, among others. Air India and its low-cost international airline Air India Express were privatised in 2022 and handed over to Tata Sons. The conglomerate already owned Vistara and AirAsia India and decided to carve out two airlines of the total four it now owned by merging Air India and Vistara as well as Air India Express with AirAsia India.