Reduced flights impacting cabin crew salary: Air India Express union

In a letter to the commissioner on Tuesday, the AIXEU highlighted issues with a new software transition managed by the airline’s scheduling department, which allegedly resulted in the loss of cabin crew data. As a result, cabin crew members have been assisting manually to cover flight cancellations and delays, further complicating the scheduling process.

The union stressed that the reduced number of departures is directly affecting cabin crew salaries, which are linked to flying hours. An airline official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the transition to the new scheduling system coincided with a section of cabin crew reporting sick, referencing the recent strike. This convergence of issues has led to a prolonged stabilisation period, though many issues have been mitigated.

The next round of conciliation meetings is scheduled for May 28, aiming to address these ongoing concerns.

Earlier this month, a significant number of Air India Express cabin crew reported sick in protest against alleged mismanagement and unequal treatment of staff. This led to substantial flight disruptions, with the airline cancelling 85 flights, about 23 per cent of its daily operations. The strike was called off on May 9 following a meeting between union representatives and airline officials, convened by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in New Delhi. Operations were expected to normalise by May 12.