 "Air India Express crisis: How flight cancellations caused chaos at Delhi, Kerala airports")
Chaotic scenes emerged at several airports after Air India Express cancelled over 80 flights on Wednesday (8 May). Passengers were left fuming as the low-cost airline nixed international and domestic flights.
Now, the Civil Aviation Ministry has sought a report from the Air India Express over the development. It has also asked the Tata-group airline to promptly resolve issues and ensure facilities to passengers according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms, as per the news agency PTI.
How did flight cancellations affect passengers? Why were the flights cancelled and what is going on? We explain.
Flyers face troubles
Thousands of passengers faced difficulties after Air India Express cancelled at least 86 flights.
Flights to Srinagar, Goa and Guwahati were reportedly cancelled at the last moment.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was among the passengers affected by the disruption to the Delhi-Srinagar flight, told media, “I was supposed to leave in the morning. But I am now leaving on an IndiGo flight after sitting here for three-four hours…If the flights were cancelled, they should have informed us in the morning itself. Why did they fool everyone?…Air India (Express) should be shut…their basic culture is bad, nothing will become of it (sic)."
#WATCH | Over 70 international & domestic flights of Air India Express cancelled after its senior crew member went on mass 'sick leave'.
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2024
DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad, whose Delhi-Srinagar was also cancelled, says, "...I was supposed to leave in the morning. But I am now leaving… pic.twitter.com/SWC9JnIX1d
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThousands of passengers were stranded at four international airports in Kerala after their flights were delayed or cancelled.
Four flights at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport were shelved until 10 am on Wednesday, including those to Chennai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, The Hindu reported.
A flyer who had to travel to Oman’s capital Muscat due to a medical emergency told ANI, “I had to fly to Muscat today morning at around 8 am, but my flight was cancelled. I had to urgently leave for Muscat as there was a medical emergency. After an argument with the airline staff, I was provided with a ticket for tomorrow. The passengers have been informed that there are no tickets till 17 May and a refund will also be provided after 14 days”.
#WATCH | A passenger, Amrita says "I had to fly to Muscat today morning at around 8 am, but my flight was cancelled. I had to urgently leave for Muscat as there was a medical emergency. After an argument with the airline staff, I was provided with a ticket for tomorrow. The… pic.twitter.com/GP90PwXjtf
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2024
Why were the flights cancelled?
Air India Express flights were disrupted after a section of senior crew members reported sick en masse “at the last minute”, starting 7 May night.
“While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result,” the airline said in an official statement.
Apologising for the inconvenience, Air India Express urged flyers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.
An Air India Express spokesperson said that passengers affected by “cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date”, reported Business Standard.
Why did this happen?
Trouble has been brewing at Air India Express over several measures taken since its merger with AirAsia India (now AIX Connect) to form the low-cost arm of the Air India Group, which was acquired by the Tata Group in 2022.
The Air India crew had called for a strike on 24 April but did not proceed with the protest after the management met some of their demands, as per the Business Standard report.
The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), representing a section of the airline’s cabin crew members, has alleged inequality in the staff’s treatment compared to their counterparts at AIX Connect, the report added.
While Air India Express was a government-owned airline before it was taken over by Tata in 2022, AirAsia India was already a Tata-owned carrier.
Air India Express used to operate only international flights before privatisation. As per The Hindu, the staff are upset over the discontinuation of allowances for international flights for the crew who were shifted to domestic flights.
The crew are protesting against the new employment terms of the Tata Group-owned airline, sources told NDTV.
As per Business Standard, AIXEU wrote a letter to Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran on Wednesday, saying, “There is a glaring lack of equality in the treatment of employees. Salaries, experience and merits are being disregarded, with internal job postings now being filled by candidates external to Air India Express, by passing qualified internal candidates”.
The union said such “mismanagement had … impacted employee morale (and) also reflects poorly on our customers and company’s performance”, urging Chandrasekaran to “personally intervene to redress our grievances…”
As per NDTV, Air India Express has said it does not recognise any workers’ union.
ALSO READ: Flight delays, cancellations, crew shortages: What's going on at Vistara?
Air India Express CEO responds
Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh has reportedly written to employees, saying there will be a reduction in the number of flights being operated by the airline over the next few days.
He said in the letter that 100 cabin crew members had reported sick and its impact was “disproportionate” as it was done by senior employees.
Air India Express Managing Director, Aloke Singh, writes to the airline's employees regarding the current crisis after over 100 cabin crew reported sick before their duty pic.twitter.com/B5vMKnrJVN
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2024
“The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing us to curtail the schedules over the next few days. We had to do this to cope with the non-availability of crew and to recover schedules,” the CEO said, as per NDTV.
With inputs from agencies
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