Air India Express has cancelled more than 86 flights both domestic and international from Tuesday night till Wednesday morning. This cancellation was because the senior crew members reported a “mass sick leave”, the airline’s spokesperson reported. Up to 300 crew members are reported to be absent due to ‘sick leave.’
“A section of our cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reason behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result.”, Air India Spokesperson said.
Some flights were being postponed up to one day, leading to chaos in the airports and upset customers. The airlines have decided to refund some customers whose lights are cancelled or give them a complimentary rescheduling, the spokesperson informed.
Up to 300 Air India Express (AIX) crew reported sick for work : Around 78 Air India Express flights cancelled on domestic, international routes owing to mass sick leave.
Air India Express : “A section of cabin crew has reported sick at the last minute, starting last night, Teams… pic.twitter.com/numDb58nbV
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) May 8, 2024
“Guests impacted by cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date. Guests flying with us today are requested to check if their flight is affected, before heading to the airport,” the spokesperson added.
The airline apologised for the inconvenience saying, “We sincerely apologise to our guests for this unexpected disruption and emphasise that this situation does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide.”
The Civil aviation Authorities have decided to investigate the matter.
The ‘sick leave’ epidemic hits Air India Express
This ‘sick leave’ problem has been growing slowly. Earlier Vistara also cancelled 10 per cent of flights causing inconvenience to customers due to mass sick leave. The cause for this was given by several pilots to be flight duty time limits and pilots becoming “bonded labourers”. 
According to NDTV, the crew have alleged that lack of equality of treatment of the staff after the merger. They claim that some staff members were offered lower positions even after completing interviews.
The crew has also alleged that the key parts of the compensation package have been modified or removed and that the airline management is shutting down the dissenting voices, sources said.
