Air India Express flights cancelled as cabin crew called in sick last minute: Spokesperson

Flight delays and cancellations of Air India Express flights happened due to section of cabin crew reporting sick at last minute, an Air India Express spokesperson told the media on Wednesday. The Air India Express is engaging with cabin crew to understand reasons behind reporting sick, the Spokesperson said. According to sources, many employees are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline. As there are not enough cabin crew members, scores of flights have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Bangalore.

"We sincerely apologise to our guests for this unexpected disruption and emphasise that this situation does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide. Guests impacted by cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date. Guests flying with us today are requested to check if their flight is affected, before heading to the airport," the air carrier said in a post on X.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.

Late last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff. Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

Many passengers took to social media on Wednesday complaining about the sudden cancellation of flights. In response to a passenger's post on X about flight cancellation, Air India Express apologised and said the flight was cancelled "due to operational reasons".

"As part of our service recovery process, you can either opt to reschedule the flight within the next 7 days or request a full refund through our chat bot Tia...," the airline said in a post on X.

The development at Air India Express comes 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.
(With PTI inputs.)