Malayali engineer dies alone in Muscat as Air India Express strike disrupts wife's journey

Thiruvananthapuram: Air India Express cabin crew strike disrupted many journeys since May 6, but it left a 40-year-old man to breathe his last without the chance to see his beloved one last time.

Nambi Rajesh, of Karamana, was hospitalised on May 5 after collapsing at his workplace in Muscat. His wife Amritha C booked a ticket to Muscat on an Air India Express flight for the next day. She arrived at the airport in the morning, only to discover that the airline had cancelled services due to the cabin crew protest.

Despite her efforts to persuade the airline officials, her pleas and tears fell on deaf ears. Instead, they sent her back home with a false promise of providing a ticket the next day. Amritha then inquired about the possibility of securing a ticket for the following day, but her efforts were in vain. Ultimately, she had to cancel her trip.

Rajesh passed away at the hospital on Monday morning. The news plunged Amritha and her family into profound sorrow, knowing that they couldn't see him one last time. Amritha is a nursing student, while Rajesh worked as an IT manager in the Middle East. The couple has two children, Anika (UKG) and Nambi Shailesh (LKG), both students at Kallattumukk Oxford School.

Last week, hundreds of flights were cancelled due to a strike by cabin crew members protesting against the Tata-owned airline's alleged mismanagement. As the strike has now been called off, the airline is anticipated to resume normal operations from Tuesday (May 14).