Flights from Kerala continue to be disrupted

THE ‘mass sick’ leave taken by the Air India Express cabin crew continued to disrupt the operations of the low-cost carrier at the four airports in Kerala for the second day in succession.

None of the Express flights has taken off from the airports in Kerala.

Irate passengers booked to travel to various Middle Eastern destinations expressed their ire against the airline as they have tickets booked in advance, but are now unable to travel. Those whose visas are expiring are the worst affected.

There were unconfirmed reports that around 30 of the striking cabin crew were served dismissal notices for failing to turn up for duty. On Thursday, around 74 scheduled flights, domestic and international, were cancelled.

It was in the early hours of Wednesday that the cabin crew resorted to protest by going on mass medical leave.

The reason for this was to express their ire at how the airline management presently under the Tata group has failed to respond to their demands which have been repeatedly raised earlier. This matter is presently being looked up by the Labour Commissioner.

Reports indicated that there was going to be a conciliatory talk between the management and the striking crew members later in the day.

IANS adds:

Over 80 flights were cancelled on Thursday following the mass sick leave taken by the cabin crew members of Air India Express, said an official.

“We will be operating 283 flights today. We have mobilised all resources and Air India will support us by operating on 20 of our routes. However, 85 of our flights stand cancelled and we urge our guests booked to fly with us to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport,” said the Air India Express spokesperson.

“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 airindiaexpress.com,” the spokesperson added.

Since Tuesday, over 300 cabin crew members have gone on mass sick leave alleging that despite assurances of job security, salary preservation, and recognition of seniority and expertise, there has been a visible departure from these commitments during the transition from AirAsia to Air India Express.

In 2023, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave its go-ahead to the Tata Group's initiative to merge the budget airline AIX Connect (previously known as AirAsia India) with Air India Express.

“Since last (Tuesday) evening, over 100 of our cabin crew colleagues have reported sick prior to their rostered flight duty, at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations. Because this action was mostly by colleagues assigned L1 role, the impact was disproportionate, disrupting 90+ flights even though other colleagues reported for duty”, read the letter by CEO Aloke Singh on Wednesday.