Last month, a union representing a segment of Air India Express’s cabin crew raised allegations of “mismanagement” and unequal treatment of staff within the airline. Sources report that Air India Express has canceled numerous flights due to a shortage of cabin crew, with some crew members calling in sick to protest the purported mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned carrier. Dissatisfaction among a portion of the cabin crew, particularly following the initiation of the merger process between AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) and Air India Express, has been brewing for some time.
According to sources, several cabin crew members began reporting sick on Monday evening, leading to the cancellation of “scores of flights” at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut, and Bengaluru.
The Air India Express Employees Union, representing approximately 300 cabin crew members, predominantly seniors, accused the airline of mismanagement, which they claim has adversely affected employee morale. Many passengers took to social media on Wednesday to express frustration over the sudden flight cancellations.
Responding to a passenger’s complaint on social media about flight cancellation, Air India Express issued an apology and cited “operational reasons” for the cancellation. The airline offered affected passengers the option to reschedule their flights within the next seven days or request a full refund through their chat bot, Tia.
These developments at Air India Express occur just a month after Tata Group’s full-service carrier, Vistara, faced pilot-related challenges, resulting in a temporary reduction in capacity by 10% or 25-30 flights daily.
As part of its airline business consolidation efforts, Tata Group is in the process of merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as integrating Vistara with Air India.
