My trouble, your loss: Air India Express sacks 25 'sick' employees day after not reporting to work

Air India Express, owned by Tata Group, has sacked “with immediate effect” 25 cabin crew members who did not report to work and went on mass sick leave without notice.

“Around 25 cabin crew members of Air India Express have been terminated due to their behaviour,” ANI quoted sources in the airline as saying.

Meanwhile, Air India Express has also issued an ultimatum to striking cabin crew to join work by 4 pm on Thursday (May 9), PTI cited sources as saying.

The termination letter was reportedly sent to the employees late on Wednesday.

‘You will no longer be considered an employee’

Terminating services of its cabin crew members, Air India Express 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 dependents shall not be eligible for any employee-related benefits provided by the company.”

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Air India Express cabin crew ‘mass sick leave’ lead to over 100 flights cancellation

As per reports, the number of termination of employees is likely to increase if the crew members do not report to work.

More than 100 Air India Express flights have cancelled since Tuesday night, leaving around 15,000 passengers in trouble.

‘Mass sick leave’ not only a problem, but…

The airline in an emailed statement said that the mass sick leave was not only in violation of the applicable laws, but it also “violated the Air India Express Limited Employees’ Service Rules as are applicable to you”.

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The airline further 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.”

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,” the airline said.

Also Read: Over 70 Air India Express flights cancelled at last moment, more expected today; here's why

Air India Express further said that around the same time, a large number of other cabin crew members also reported sick and did not report for their duties. “This clearly points to a pre-mediated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason," the airline added.

“A large number of flights had to be cancelled,” which further disrupted the entire schedule and caused “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,” Air India Express said.

What’s wrong with Air India Express?

The Air India Express employees reportedly went on mass “sick leave” in protest against the management over the initiation of the merger with AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India).

In April, a union representing a section of Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and claimed a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

The recent event at Air India Express comes merely a month after Tata Group’s full-service carrier Vistara experienced pilot issues, leading it to temporarily reduce capacity by 10 per cent, or 25-30 flights per day.

Tata Group is merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India as part of consolidating its airline business.

With inputs from agencies