After two and a half days of stalemate, Air India Express and the crew reached a middle ground on Thursday, putting an end to the suffering of hundreds of flyers.
The Air India Express cabin crew has decided to withdraw strike and join back for duty after the airline assured to look into all the issues raised by the cabin crew.
Besides, the airline has agreed to withdraw the termination letters issued to 25 cabin crew and the management will review the cases as per service regulations, they added. The Tata Group-owned airline has cancelled more than 170 flights since Tuesday night after the cabin crew started reporting sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline.
Following the cancellation of several flights and the inconvenience to passengers, the Government had to get involved. At the request of the Regional Labour Commissioner Ashok Perumalla, a meeting was held on Thursday between Air India Express Union and the airline CEO to reach a solution. Apparently, after the meeting, a middle ground has been reached and the strike will end, much to the relief of the travelers.
In the email notice of termination it sent to the affected employees, the airline added that the widespread sick leave "violated the Air India Express Limited Employees' Service Rules as are applicable" in addition to breaching the relevant laws.
The emailed statement followed Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh's announcement that the airline was curtailing flight services until May 13 as a result of the cabin crew crisis.
A section of the cabin crew has alleged mismanagement and lack of equality in the treatment of staff. A conciliation process is happening under the Industrial Disputes Act after a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew had filed a complaint before the labour department last year.
Room sharing, lack of proper support, revised salary structure and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members of Air India Express are among the issues being flagged by the striking cabin crew.
On Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Ministry sought a report from Air India Express on the cancellation of flights and also asked the airline to resolve the issues promptly.
Discontent has been brewing among a section of staff at Air India Express since the start of the process to merge AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.
Regardless of the actions taken by Air India Express, such as the dismissal of employees who went on mass leave without notice, it is ultimately the passengers who bear the brunt.
The situation with Air India Express is even more dire, as many passengers are finding out about flight cancellations only after completing security checks.
Soon after 30 crew members were sacked for staging mass sick leave, the Air India Express on Thursday announced that the airline has cancelled 85 flights as flight operations were disrupted by shortage of cabin crew members.
"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 and we urge our guests booked to fly with us to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport," said the airline in the statement.
In case their flight is cancelled or delayed beyond three hours, the Air India Express said the passengers may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees.
The number of cancelled flights at 85 translates to over 20 per cent of the airline's scheduled daily flights. In the earlier statement, the airline said it has cancelled 74 flights and will be operating 292 services.
Earlier in a statement, the airline said the crew members were rostered for a flight on Tuesday. "However, you informed the Scheduling team at the last moment that you were unwell and accordingly reported sick. It is noted that at around the same time, an overwhelming number of other cabin crew members have also reported sick and not reported for their duties.
This clearly points to a pre-mediated and concerted abstentation from work without any justifiable reason," it added.
The airline said as a result, "a large number of flights had to be cancelled, thereby disrupting the entire schedule, which cause tremendous inconvenience to our esteemed passengers".
"Your act amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding, to not operate the flight and to disrupt services of the company."
As it terminated the services of the cabin crew members, the airline said, "You will no longer be considered an employee; you will no longer have access to official mails, servers, other communication; and you and your dependants shall not be eligible for any employee-related benefits provided by the company."
Since Tuesday night, approximately 15,000 passengers have already been affected by cancelled flights.
Air India Express, which operates between 350 and 400 flights per day - comprising over 250 domestic and 120 international flights - is now reducing its daily flight schedule by about 40 until 13 May.
The airline has asked passengers to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport. If the flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond three hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees, it added.
