Air India Express cancels several flights amid cabin crew crisis: Sources

NEW DELHI: Air India Express has cancelled ''scores of flights'' due to a shortage of cabin crew members as a section of them are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, according to sources.

Air India Express has canceled flights due to a shortage of cabin crew caused by protests against alleged mismanagement. Cabin crew members have reportedly been calling in sick, leading to flight cancellations in various airports. The discontent stems from the merger of AIX Connect with Air India Express and alleged mistreatment of staff. Despite an apology from the airline, passengers have taken to social media to complain about the cancellations. This issue follows recent pilot woes at Vistara, also owned by Tata Group. The Tata Group is consolidating its airline operations by merging Air India Express, AIX Connect, and Vistara with Air India.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.

The sources on Wednesday said several cabin crew members started reporting sick since Monday evening and as there are not enough cabin crew members, ''scores of flights'' have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Bangalore.

Late last month, a union representing a section of the Air India Express cabin crew alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

Many passengers took to social media on Wednesday complaining about the sudden cancellation of flights.

In response to a passenger's post on X about flight cancellation, Air India Express apologised and said the flight was cancelled ''due to operational reasons''.

''As part of our service recovery process, you can either opt to reschedule the flight within the next 7 days or request a full refund through our chat bot Tia...,'' the airline said in a post on X.

The development at Air India Express comes a month after Tata Group full-service carrier Vistara witnessed pilot woes, forcing it to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily.

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