Air India Express Cabin Crew Strike Resolved, 25 Members Rehired

New Delhi: Air India Express cabin crew on Thursday decided to withdraw ir strike and airline agreed to reinstate 25 staff who were terminated from service, according to sources.

A section of cabin crew started reporting sick from Tuesday night to protest against alleged mismanagement at airline, forcing cancellation of more than 170 flights and impacting thousands of passengers at various airports.

decisions to end strike and withdraw termination letters were agreed upon during a conciliation meeting between representatives of cabin crew and airline management at Office of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in national capital on Thursday.

meeting, which went on for nearly five hours, was between representatives of Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) and airline management. union is affiliated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an associate of RSS.

After meeting, Girish Chandra Arya, All India Secretary of BMS, said termination of 25 cabin crew of Air India Express has been withdrawn.

Both parties will discuss issues and re will be a meeting again on May 28, he said.

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

"On appeal of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), 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.

" management will review cases of se crew as per service regulations," it said.

As per document, representatives of airline assured that all issues of cabin crew raised before management and during conciliation proceedings will be looked into and resolved.

Earlier in day, Tata Group airline said it has cancelled 85 flights or about 23 per cent of total operational capacity due to cabin crew shortage and will be operating 283 flights.

To minimise disruptions, Air India is operating flights on 20 routes of Air India Express, which has curtailed services till May 13.

Sources, earlier in day, said around 250 cabin crew reported sick on Thursday.

On Wednesday, civil aviation ministry sought a report from Air India Express on cancellation of flights and also asked airline to resolve issues promptly.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of staff at Air India Express after start of process to merger AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself. A section of cabin crew has alleged mismanagement and lack of equality in treatment of staff. A conciliation process is happening under Industrial Disputes Act after a union representing a section of Air India Express cabin crew h filed a complaint before labour department last year.

Room sharing, lack of proper support, revised salary structure and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members of Air India Express are among issues being flagged by striking cabin crew.

In a message to airline's staff, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh on Wednesday said since last evening, more than 100 cabin crew members have reported sick prior to ir rostered flight duty, "at last minute, severely disrupting our operations".

" disruptions have casced across network, forcing us to curtail schedules over next few days. We h to do this to cope with non-availability of crew and to recover schedules," Singh h said.

He h also said company leership is available for any discussions if re are concerns that need to be dressed.

Air India Express cabin crew's strike came a month after Tata Group full-service carrier Vistara witnessed pilot woes, forcing it to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent, or 25-30 flights daily.

As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India.