Air India Express cancellations: Can regulatory action end the airline's fiasco with employees?  

Air India merger and issues: The government has stepped in for conciliation of Air India Express management and aggrieved crew members.  The Chief Labour Commissioner on Thursday summoned the self-styled Air India Express Union and the airline CEO for a meeting to try and achieve conciliation between the management of Air India Express and the aggrieved employees. Besides, the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry sought inputs from the aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the grievances of the Air India Express employees. The airline has cancelled more than 74 flights and decided to operate 292 flights. 

India is at the cusp of robust aviation growth, and various aviation conglomerates are at the forefront of this onward trajectory. As per Avialaz Consultants, an advisory firm, which has carried out research and analysis, India’s aviation sector is expected to see a record growth of up to 15 per cent in 2024-25 and air travel in the country may likely see 170-175 million passenger footfall. Can the government ensure that the fiasco between the airline management and its staff does not become an impediment to Indian aviation’s growth story? Republic Business takes a deep dive. 

Employees' Concerns 

On Wednesday, a memorandum was submitted to Air India Limited Chairman N Chandrasekaran by a self-styled amalgamation calling itself Air India Express employees union and claiming to have the allegiance of over 300 employees. In the detailed letter, the union citing its affiliation to Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, levelled grave allegations on the management of Air India Express of mismanagement. 

At the centre of the contention are the business plans of the Tata group of consolidating its aviation business by merging four airlines into two: Air India and Vistara are merging to form a single full-service carrier, while AIX Connect and Air India Express are combining to create a unified low-cost carrier, as a subsidiary of Air India.
Blaming the proposed merger as a reason for the “unceremonious termination” of senior employees, the letter from the self-styled union. 
Speaking with Republic Business, Sanjay Lazar, who is an independent aviation analyst and a former Air India crew member said the problems about the handling of human resources, as is being witnessed in the case of Air India, were bound to be seen in the light of Air India’s proposed mergers. 
“The problems at Air India Express are typical in any airline merger, each group tries to protect its own vested interests,” said Lazar, CEO, Avialaz Consultants, which has carried out indepth research and analysis of India’s aviation sector. 

Need for neutral observers 

As per Lazar, in the case of any merger process of an airline, neutral aviation experts must handle the fate of human resources, operations, and inflight workforce. “At Avialaz we have studied the last five to six major aviation mergers worldwide from Alaskan Air to Korean Air for our clients, and found this to be a typical thread,” said the aviation analyst Lazar. “The most successful airlines merging will rely on strong external domain expertise and ensure that none of the pre-merging baggage is allowed to cloud the new corporate ethos,"
 Air India Express’ cabin crew has been reportedly sending communiques to the airline management for the last several months about their problems but to no avail, he added. “I do believe it is only about having a dialogue to resolve issues. These issues could have been sorted out without so much bitterness. Why did it fester and go so far?” quipped Lazar. 

AI Express management's perspective 

On Wednesday, unconfirmed media reports said that the Air India Express management has derecognised the employees’ union, an amalgamation which wrote a letter to Air India Limited Chairman N Chandrasekaran, alleging grave instances of mismanagement. 

Read more: Why Air India Express Cabin Crew Reported Mass Sick Leave

With more than 200 flights cancelled during the last two days, the affected airline said it was making efforts to ensure flight operations in the best possible manner. “Air India Express is making every possible effort to minimise the inconvenience caused to our guests by this unexpected situation. 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,” said an Air India Express spokesperson.

He said 85 of our flights stand cancelled, while urging prospective flyers to check their flight status before travelling to the airport. “If their flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond three hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees,” said the airline's statement.  

“While we will continue to engage with our cabin crew colleagues with a commitment to address any concern, we are taking appropriate steps against certain individuals as their actions have caused grave inconvenience to thousands of our guests," the Air India Express spokesperson added.