On Thursday, May 9, the Air India Express cabin crew agreed to end its ongoing strike. The cabin crew withdrew the strike after the airline agreed to look into issues raised by them, news agency PTI reported. Following the decision by the cabin crew to end the strike, Air India Express has agreed to take back the termination letters and reinstate the ‘sick’ employees who had been fired.
Over a hundred flights were cancelled since May 7 as a section of the cabin crew reported sick in a protest against alleged mismanagement. On Thursday, the airline issued termination letters to around 25 cabin crew members who were on strike. The remaining cabin crew members who reported sick were given an ultimatum by Air India Express to go back to work by 4 pm on 9th May or else they would be fired. However, now, the stalemate seems to have ended.
Following the cancellation of several flights and the inconvenience to passengers, the government had to get involved. At the request of the Regional Labour Commissioner Ashok Perumalla, a meeting was held on Thursday between Air India Express Union and the airline CEO to reach a solution. Apparently, after the meeting, a middle ground has been reached and the strike will end, much to the relief of the travelers.
Earlier, on the evening of 8th May, several crew members got notifications of termination from the airline. The airline stated that the crew members’ action “pointed to a pre-mediated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason”.
In the email notice of termination it sent to the affected employees, the airline added that the widespread sick leave “violated the Air India Express Limited Employees’ Service Rules as are applicable” in addition to breaching the relevant laws.
According to the statement, the crew members who were scheduled to fly on 7th May informed the Scheduling team at the last moment that they were unwell and accordingly reported sick. “It is noted that at around the same time, an overwhelming number of other cabin crew members have also reported sick and not reported for their duties. This clearly points to a pre-mediated and concerted abstentation from work without any justifiable reason,” the statement added.
