Air India Express: Strike to End, Airline to Revoke Suspension

Air India Express, the Low Cost Wing of TATA Group on May 8 dismissed 25 cabin crew members from their services for participating in a mass leave strike. Today, a meeting was held at the Labour Commissioner’s Office, where a majority of the issues have been resolved.

Air India Express: Strike Ends, Suspension Revoked

Today, a conciliation proceeding was held at the Chief Labour Commissioner’s office in Delhi. Representatives from the airline, as well as the employees union, were present at the meeting. The employees union was headed by Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh.

After a more than two-hour meeting, all parties reached a solution. The Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, representing the cabin crew members has assured the airline management of normalcy in operations. It said that all the members on strike would return to duty immediately.

Upon the request of the Chief Labour Commissioner, the airline management has agreed to reinduct the suspended cabin crew members. Yesterday, the airline suspended 25 flight attendants for participating in the strike. Now, they have been asked to report to the airline office with their fitness certificates as soon as possible. Their duties will be reinstated. Since they reported sick the airline management will review their cases separately as per service regulations.

After the meeting, the cabin crew members were in joy congratulating each other for this virtual win. At least the airline has listened to them. Air India Express, previously said that they do not recognize any Union formed by their staff members, despite AIXEU being a registered union. It will be interesting to know whether the airline acknowledges this union now or not.

What About Cabin Crew Concerns?

One major question: Suspended employees have been reinstated and the strike has ended. So, what happens to the concerns of cabin crew members? Air India Express has said that it will listen to these concerns according to the said guidelines and regulations set by the aviation regulator. The airline has assured the Labour Commissioner that the cabin crew issues will be resolved.

The next meeting at the Labour Commission Office in Dwarka, New Delhi will be held on 28 May 2024 at 03:00 PM.

On 8 & 9 May, Air India Express was forced to cancel around 180 flights because of this strike. Recently, the airline announced that to mitigate the disruption, Air India will be operating on 20 routes of Air India Express by deploying its own Airbus A320s.

Reporting sick is a right of any corporate employee. So, there is less chance that Air India Express will be able to do anything against these employees. With this, Air India Express becomes the second airline in the recent past to take strong action against its own staff members. Earlier, Akasa Air filed a legal court case against 43 of its pilots for leaving the airline without serving their notice periods.

Conclusion

Due to an unplanned cabin crew strike, more than 180 flights at Air India Express had to be cancelled. As a result, the airline suspended 25 cabin crew members for their participation in the strike. The airline was summoned by the Chief Labour Commission. After discussions, the airline has decided to reinduct the suspended staff members. On the other hand, the union has decided to take down the strike with all members reporting back to duty.

What do you think about the revoking of suspension by Air India Express? Discuss in the comment section.