Air India Express cabin crew strike: Airline cancels eight flights at Chennai airport, passengers left in lurch

CHENNAI: The ongoing strike by Air India Express cabin crew has entered its second day, resulting in the cancellation of eight flights at the Chennai airport, including those to Singapore, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram. The sudden leaves by a significant number of cabin crew members has led to operational challenges in the absence of pilots and engineers to operate the flights.

Passengers at the Chennai airport faced significant inconvenience as they were not notified in advance about these sudden cancellations.

PTI sources said that Air India Express, a Tata Group owned airline, has cancelled at least 60 flights across the country for Thursday.

On Tuesday night, over 200 Air India Express cabin crew abruptly took leave and initiated strikes at airports across several states, including Kerala, to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline. Consequently, a shortage of pilots and engineers led to the cancellation of over 90 flights.

Also Read:AI Express terminates 25 crew members amid strike, urges others to resume work

Today, an Air India Express passenger flight from Kolkata scheduled to land in Chennai at 12.30 pm, as well as the one at 7.30 pm, were cancelled.

Additionally, four arrival flights and four departure flights from Chennai to Kolkata scheduled for tonight have also been cancelled. Moreover, two morning flights - Chennai to Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai to Singapore - were cancelled. An Air India Express utility flight from Chennai to Kolkata this morning was also cancelled.

On Wednesday, an Air India Express flight from Singapore scheduled to land in Chennai at 12 midnight was cancelled, along with a similar cancellation for the Air India Express flight from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Meanwhile, PTI has reported that AI Express has also issued an ultimatum to striking cabin crew to join work by 4 pm on May 9.

The airline crew has said that the management has failed to respond to their demands which have been repeatedly raised earlier. The matter is presently being looked into by the Labour Commissioner.

Reports indicated that there was going to be a conciliatory talk between the management and the striking crew members later in the day.

Air India Express has also issued termination letters to around 25 cabin crew members who reported sick.

There are around 1,400 cabin crew, including about 500 at the senior level, at the airline.