AI Express Issues Chargesheet to Crew; Union Expresses Concern

The trouble for Air India Express seems far from over as the power struggle between the employer and the employee is still going headstrong. As per the recent development, AI Express has issued a chargesheet against its cabin crew, and the cabin crew union has slammed this action as unfair.

AI Express Issues Chargesheet

According to the Press Trust of India, Air India Express issued a chargesheet to nearly 200 of its cabin crew members. All 200 members claimed sick leave during the strike Air India saw in May 2024. The chargesheet granted the members 72 hours to respond to the allegations.

The chargesheet was issued by the head of HR, as the mass sick leaves led to massive flight cancellations and delays. During the protests, Air India also fired more than 25 employees and warned others to return to their posts if they did not want to face a similar fate. The strike was finally called off after three days when the crew members and the airline officials reached an agreement. However, the newly issued chargesheet has once again scabbed the issue.

Union Expresses Concern

The Air India Express Employee Union (AIXEU) has claimed the move to be an unfair labour practice, calling it “unfortunate”. The Union has now penned a letter to Aloke Singh, Air India Express MD, highlighting how such a move can harm the airline and its employees. It also discussed how the matter was already resolved in front of the Central Labour Commissioner where the airline had agreed not to take any such action against the striking crew members.

KK Vijayakumar, the Union’s president, in the letter, stated, “It is very regrettable and constitutes an unfair labour practice to reopen the case and issue indictments for matters that have already been resolved through conciliation. Such actions could be detrimental to the interests of the company and its passengers. Instead, I urge you to seek cooperative opportunities to strengthen our industrial relations. It was clearly stated in the last hearing held on May 28 in front of the CLC that no punitive action would be initiated against the employees in this regard. Additionally, since the issue was settled on May 9, I believe that the employees were available for duty the following day. However, numerous flight cancellations occurred due to data loss from newly introduced software, as no backup was maintained by the concerned department and no training was provided to handle the software. This operational lapse is being misrepresented as the fault of the cabin crew employees.”