'Join Back By 4 PM Or...': AI Express Fires 25 Employees Over Sick Leave, Gives Ultimatum to Others

New Delhi: Tata Group-owned Air India Express has "terminated with immediate effect" the contracts of at least 25 senior cabin crew members who called in sick, leading to disruptions in flight operations and cancellations of nearly 100 flights. The airline has also given an ultimatum to the remaining cabin crew members reporting sick to join back duty by 4 pm on Thursday or face termination, they added.

Air India Express has also cancelled at least 60 flights for Thursday due to the non-availability of cabin crew, the sources said and added that mass leaves by a section of the cabin crew have caused immense inconvenience to passengers. There are around 1,400 cabin crew, including about 500 at the senior level, at the airline.

In an internal memo to the terminated employees, the airline cited their actions as a “premeditated and coordinated refusal to work without valid justification.”

In the termination letter, sent to one of the employees, the airline stated that the cabin crew members reporting sick at "around the same time... clearly points to a premeditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason."

The note read, "This is in reference to your employment with Air India Express Limited ("Company") in the capacity of Cabin Crew Executive. It has been reported that you were rostered for a flight on 07.05.2024. However, you informed the Scheduling team at the last moment that you were unwell and accordingly reporting sick. It is noted that at or around the same time, an overwhelming number of other cabin crew members have also reported sick and have not reported for their duties," the note read.

It said, "This clearly points to a pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason. As a result of the above, a large number of flights had to be cancelled thereby disrupting the entire schedule, which caused tremendous inconvenience to the Company's esteemed passengers. Your act is not only subversive of public interest, but has also caused embarrassment, severe reputational damage, and serious monetary loss to the Company," it added.

In the termination letter, which was widely shared on social media, the Tata-owned airline added, “Your act is not only subversive of public interest, but has also caused embarrassment, severe reputational damage, and serious monetary loss to the Company. Your act of reporting sick for work amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding, to not operate the flight and to 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 as are applicable to you.”

On Wednesday evening, Air India Express MD Aloke Singh wrote a letter addressing employees. He said that since Tuesday evening, over 100 cabin crew colleagues have reported sick prior to their rostered flight duty, at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations. He said that due to the ongoing situation, Air India Express has curtailed flight operations for the next few days.

Hundreds of Air India Express passengers were left stranded as they experienced chaos and inconvenience after their flights were delayed or cancelled due to a section of cabin crew members calling in sick to protest alleged mismanagement by the airline. The protest resulted in a shortage of cabin crew, leading to disruptions at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut, and Bangalore.

Following the flight disruptions, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had also sought a detailed report from the airline over the delays and cancellations. The airline was also been advised to ensure facilities to passengers as per DGCA norms.