Air India Express Cabin Crew End Strike For Now

The cabin crew of Air India Express has withdrawn their unofficial strike after the airline agreed to look into issues raised by them, news agency PTI reported citing sources. The airline has agreed to withdraw termination letters issued to 30 cabin crew, PTI reported. The development comes after two and a half days of stalemate during which hundreds of flights were cancelled leading to thusands of passengers being stranded at airports. The crisis blew over later Thursday night after a series of talks between the cabin crew union of Air India Express and the airline management.

Air India Express faced a sudden shortage of cabin crew which went on a mass sick leave, following which hundreds of flights were cancelled and the airline had to issue an apology and assurance of a refund or alternative flight booking.

Air India Express has a;ready announced that it will curtail flights till May 13 which continues to stay. The airline also roped in the sevices of Air India on 20 routes.

Air India Statement

“We will be operating 283 flights today. We have mobilised all resources and Air India will support us by operating on 20 of our routes. However, 85 of our flights stand cancelled,” the airline said in a revised statement on Thursday.

After the meeting with the crew representatives, Air India Express said: “We are pleased with the progress we made at the conciliation meeting and welcome our cabin crew colleagues back at work. This will help us swiftly restore our flight schedule and fulfil our commitments to our guests. We sincerely apologise to those inconvenienced by these unintended disruptions. It is not in keeping with our usual service standards, and we will review it internally to ensure accountability. As we gradually bring our operations back to normalcy, we urge our guests booked to fly with us to check their flight status before heading to the airport. If their flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond 3 hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees on WhatsApp (+91 6360012345) or on http://airindiaexpress.com.”