Air India Express cabin crew call o‚ strike after mediation
Airline agrees to reinstate 25 sacked members of the sta…; Chief Labour Commissioner to hold another meeting on May 28 to discuss employees’ concerns on allowances, alleged discrimination
Air India Express has agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew whose services were terminated after a large number of them reported “sick” since May 6, while the «ight crew have agreed to report to duty following a meeting mediated by the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) in New Delhi on Thursday.
The representatives of the airline management said that all the issues raised by the cabin crew pertaining to alleged discrimination emanating from the merger with erstwhile AirAsia India and the removal of allowances will be resolved. The CLC will hold another meeting on May 28 on the matter.
On the third day of the protest on “leave”, Air India Express was forced to
cancel 85 «ights across its network. Another Tata Group airline, Air India, supported it by operating «ights on 20 of its routes, according to a media statement issued by Air India Express.
The CLC called a conciliation meeting after over 200 cabin crew at Air India Express started reporting “sick” from May 6 resulting
in «ight disruptions.
According to a letter addressed to one of the cabin crew personnel late on May 8 informing him of his immediate termination, the airline said, “Your act of reporting sick for work amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding to not operate the «ight and 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.”
Contract terms
The Air India Express cabin crew are unhappy over “preferential treatment” for employees of the erstwhile AirAsia India resulting in certain postings granted to the latter.
They also complained about unfair contractual terms which o£ered Air India Express crew employment of one or ve years, while those from AirAsia India could remain employed till they turned 58 years. They rued the removal of certain allowances, including House Rent Allowance and Dearness Allowance. Air India and its low-cost international airline Air India Express were privatised in 2022 and handed over to Tata Sons.