After a huge chaos among passengers due to to more than 80 flight cancellations, Air India Express has sacked at least 25 cabin crew members. This happened just a a day after hundreds of employees went on sick leave and did not report to leading to Flight disruptions.
According to the news agency ANI, the management of the Air India Express terminated cabin crew members who took sick leave between Tuesday and Wednesday. They were terminated because of their unprofessional behaviour resulting in inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
The recent mass sick leave at Air India Express Limited was considered as a deliberate and coordinated absence from work. Consequently, the decision to terminate these employees was taken as their actions violated the terms of their employment contracts, resulting in their immediate dismissal.
The impact of this mass sick leave was substantial, affecting more than 95 Air India Express flights between Tuesday evening and Wednesday, impacting over 10,000 passengers. This disruption was caused by delay and cancellation of over 90 international and domestic flights.
Aloke Singh, CEO of Air India Express, addressed the situation by announcing plans to scale back flight operations in the coming days. He highlighted that the disruption was caused mainly by cabin crew assigned to L1 roles, leading to disproportionate effects on operations despite other crew members reporting for duty as scheduled.
Singh emphasized that the actions of a few individuals do not reflect the dedication of the majority of the airline's cabin crew, who continue to serve passengers diligently. He invited staff for discussions to address any concerns and assured that communication channels are open.
The Air India Express has also issued an apology to the affected passengers on the X platform(formerly Twitter) stating, "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by unprecedented flight delays and cancellations. While we are working hard to minimise disruptions, please check your flight status before heading to the airport. If your flight is impacted, please reach out to Tia on WhatsApp or http://airindiaexpress.com/support for refund and rescheduling support".
The Ministry of Civil Aviation responded by requesting a detailed report from Air India Express and urged the airline to swiftly resolve issues and ensure passengers receive necessary facilities according to DGCA norms.
