Air India Express Crew Ends Strike, Airline Agrees To Reinstate 25 Terminated Crew Members

During a conciliation meeting in the nation's capital, the representatives of the cabin crew and the airline management decided to end the strike and revoke the termination letters.

Air India Express cabin crew members have decided to end their strike, and the airline has agreed to reinstate 25 staff members who were terminated, as per the sources. The strike, which began when some crew members reported sick in protest against alleged mismanagement within the airline, led to the cancellation of over 170 flights, affecting thousands of passengers.

The decision to call off the strike and revoke the termination letters was reached during a conciliation meeting held between the cabin crew representatives and the airline management in the national capital. The meeting, lasting nearly five hours, involved representatives from the Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) and the airline management, with the union being affiliated with the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).

Following the meeting, Girish Chandra Arya, All India Secretary of the BMS, announced that the termination of the 25 cabin crew members had been withdrawn, and discussions on the issues raised would continue, with another meeting anticipated for May 28, PTI reported.

With the strike resolved, Air India Express expressed its commitment to swiftly restoring the flight schedule. The union representatives agreed that all cabin crew members who reported sick would return to duty immediately with a fitness certificate. Additionally, the management agreed to reinstate the terminated cabin crew members and review their cases according to service regulations.

We Sincerely Apologise To Those Inconvenienced By These Unintended Disruptions: Air India Express

After long discussions, persuasion and an appeal of the Conciliation Officer and the Chief Labour Commissioner, the union representatives accorded that "all the cabin crew members who have reported sick will report for duty with fitness certificate immediately, according to a document signed by the representatives of the union and the airline."

"On appeal of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), the management agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew who have been terminated on May 7 and 8, 2024 for reporting sick as a concerted action immediately." "The management will review the cases of these crew as per service regulations," it said, PTI quoted saying.

The document states that the airline's representatives are guaranteed to investigate and settle any concerns brought up by the cabin crew both before management and during conciliation procedures.

"We are pleased with the progress we made at the conciliation meeting and welcome our cabin crew colleagues back at work... we sincerely apologise to those inconvenienced by these unintended disruptions. It is not in keeping with our usual service standards, and we will review it internally to ensure accountability," the airline also highlighted in a statement.

"As we gradually bring our operations back to normalcy, we urge our guests booked to fly with us to check their flight status before heading to the airport," it added.

The Tata Group airline stated earlier in the day that it has cancelled 85 flights or about 23 per cent of the total operational capacity due to a shortage of cabin crew and it will be operating 283 flights.

The civil aviation ministry requested a report from Air India Express on the flight cancellations on Wednesday. The ministry also requested that the airline promptly resolve the issues.

Discontent among the cabin crew had been brewing due to the merger process involving AIX Connect and alleged mismanagement issues. The conciliation process was initiated under the Industrial Disputes Act following a complaint filed by a union representing a section of Air India Express cabin crew last year.

Issues such as room sharing, lack of support, revised salary structures, and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members were among those highlighted by the striking cabin crew.

The strike left passengers stranded at various airports, prompting the civil aviation ministry to seek a report from Air India Express and urge a quick resolution of the issues.

Aloke Singh, the CEO of Air India Express, stated in a memo to the workforce on Wednesday that since last night, over 100 members of the cabin crew have reported sick before their scheduled flight duty, "at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations".

"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 had said.

In addition, he had stated that if there were any issues that needed to be resolved, the company's leadership is available for talks. The strike by the cabin crew of Air India Express occurred one month after Vistara, a full-service airline owned by the Tata Group, was forced to temporarily reduce its capacity by 10%, or 25–30 flights per day, due to pilot issues.

The Tata Group is amalgamating Vistara with Air India and Air India Express with AIX Connect as part of its airline business consolidation.