After cancellation of 80 flights, Air India Express sacks nearly 30 crew members for mass sick leave

After cancellation of nearly 80 flights, Tata-owned Air India Express has terminated the employment of 30 employees (cabin crew members) after they failed to report to work.

"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," read one of the termination letter of the Air India Express employee.

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After major disruption on Wednesday, CEO Aloke Singh in a message to employees said that he is open to discussion with the cabin crew and that the airline will curtail flights for the next few days to mitigate the disruption. The airline operates around 360 flights per day.

Crew members unhappy with Tata:
The salaries of crew members has been slashed by almost 20 per cent owing to the merger of Air India Express with AirAsia India, reported ET.

K K Vijaykumar, president of Air India Express Employees Union which counts around 300 crew of the airline as its members, told ET that multiple allowances which were part of the employees' compensation prior to the merger, have been entirely removed, resulting in significant salary cuts.

Air India Express, before the merger, used to operate only to the Middle East countries and its crew were paid multiple allowances, After the merger, the crew now also has to fly to domestic destinations due to which some allowances are not paid, for example a layover allowance, which is paid to crew for overnight stay at foreign destinations.

The union had earlier written to the Regional Labour Commissioner at Delhi and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

“Employees find themselves silenced when attempting to address grievances, with management actively suppressing any dissenting voices on company platforms,” the letter reviewed by ET said.

"There is a glaring lack of equality in the treatment of employees. Salaries, experience and merits are being disregarded, with internal job postings now being filled by candidates external to Air India Express, bypassing qualified internal candidates,” the letter said.

Chaos till now:
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday called for a report from Air India Express regarding cancellation of flights and asked them to resolve issues promptly. Additionally, the airline has been advised to ensure facilities to passengers as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.

Along with the ministry, Delhi's regional labour commissioner Ashok Perumalla pushed the company to settle the issues raised by the protesting staff.

"We are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences...," said a spokesperson of the airline.

(with agency inputs)