GOVT SEEKS REPORT FROM AI EXPRESS OVER MASS FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS; DIRECTS ISSUE BE ‘RESOLVED PROMPTLY'
NEW DELHI: After Vistara, crew trouble has now forced another Tata Group airline — Air India Express — to cancel close to 80 flights since Tuesday-Wednesday midnight. While Vistara — which is soon going to be merged into Air India — had seen unrest among pilots last month, senior cabin crew of AI Express — which will have erstwhile AirAsia India merge into it — are up in the arms over new employment terms. Sources say 300 cabin crew members reported sick en masse since midnight and have switched off their phones. The budget airline has asked passengers supposed to fly it on Wednesday “to check if their flight is affected, before heading to the airport.”
AI Express operates about 200 daily flights, majority of them international. Cancellation of almost 80 so far means 40% of the schedule is impacted.
READ ALSO: Chaos at Delhi airport after Air India Express flight cancellations
“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 reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests as a result,” an AI Express spokesperson said.
“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. 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.
Passenger complains are pouring in on social media. “…horrible service. IX 974 Bengaluru to Pune scheduled departure of 9.50 pm was first delayed by 50 minutes to 10.40pm. Now further delayed by 1hour-5minutes to 11.45pm!! Any arrangements for food? I have three children travelling with me,” Nitin Jain, a passenger said on X from his handle @palindromename at 10.37 pm on Tuesday.
Another passenger, Benoy Jose said from his X handle @BenoyJose810300 at 11.24 pm Tuesday “Be a bit responsible, waiting for flight IX955 from Hyderabad to Cochin since 6 pm. AI (Express) staff totally unaware of flight status. Flight still not departed from Bangalore. Changed gates thrice, 6 to 11 to 107. Waiting at airport with kids.”
Airline mergers have not been easy globally with India being no exception due to severe reasons like different work cultures. Three mega mergers — Indian Airlines into Air India; Sahara into Jet and Deccan into Kingfisher — attempted in 2006-7 had been disasters with both Jet and Kingfisher closing down subsequently. Air India was privatised and returned to its founder Tata Group in January 2022 along with AI Express.
Before acquiring these two airlines, Tatas already had as many airlines — full service Vistara and budget AirAsia India. The salt-to-satellite conglomerate is merging full service Vistara into AI and budget AirAsia India into AI Express. Since AI is still part erstwhile AI and part erstwhile IA, the Tatas are actually merging five airlines simultaneously while attempting the toughest ever airline turnaround (of the Maharaja) in the history of aviation. While this is not an easy task by any stretch of imagination, Tatas pulling this off successfully is crucial for Indian aviation as the country is gearing up to get mega hubs and needs its own flourishing mega airlines like IndiGo and Tata Group AI.