AI Express union says reduced flights impacting cabin crew salaries

Less than two weeks after the airline's cabin crew called off their strike, a union of the Air India Express has flagged concerns about flight delays and cancellations, saying that the reduced number of departures is adversely impacting the salaries of the cabin crew.

The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) also claimed that more than 100 cabin crew are sitting idle without flying duties for the last two months due to the non-availability of airport entry passes.

The union represents a section of the airline's cabin crew.

On May 9, the cabin crew strike was called off after a meeting of the representatives of the union and the airline that was convened by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in the national capital.

The strike, to protest against alleged mismanagement at the airline, had resulted in significant flight disruptions.

In a letter to the commissioner on Tuesday, the union claimed that cabin crew data was lost during the transition to a new software managed by the scheduling department.

According to the union, the cabin crew are manually assisting the scheduling department base-wise to cover flight cancellations and delays.

Seeking urgent intervention of the commissioner, the union said the reduced number of departures is adversely affecting the cabin crew's salaries.

The salaries are also linked to the flying hours of the cabin crew. There was no comment from the official spokesperson of Air India Express. 

An airline official in the know said the transition to a new crew scheduling system coincided with a section of cabin crew reporting sick, referring to the strike earlier this month.

The situation has resulted in a longer stabilisation period and issues have been largely mitigated, the official added. The next round of the conciliation meeting is scheduled for May 28.