Section of Air India Express staff flag concerns, allege mismanagement at airline

PTI, May 1, 2024, 6:55 PM IST

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A grouping of Air India Express cabin crew has alleged that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.

The airline is part of the Tata Group and is in the process of merging AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India with itself).

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), which represents a section of the airline’s cabin crew members, on April 26 wrote a letter addressed to Tata Group and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran. Copies have been marked to Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh and others.

The registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, has alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.

It has also claimed that Air India Express employees who were interviewed for internal job postings for higher ranks were offered lower job positions even after clearing the interviews.

Queries sent to Air India Express on April 26 regarding the letter remained unanswered.

According to the letter, various allowances, including HRA, which were part of the compensation prior to the merger have been removed. This has resulted in significant salary cuts despite the airline consistently posting profits. it added.

“There is a glaring lack of equality in the treatment of employees. Salaries, experience and merits are being disregarded, with internal job postings now being filled by candidates external to Air India Express, by passing qualified internal candidates,” the letter has claimed.

Among others, the union has alleged that employees find themselves silenced when attempting to address grievances, with management supressing dissenting voices on company platforms.

Air India Express has around 2,000 cabin crew members.

Tata Group acquired Air India and Air India Express in 2022 and is in the process of consolidating its airline business. Full service carrier Vistara is also part of the group.

Last month, Vistara faced flight disruptions due to pilot woes, which also forced the airline to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily.

In the wake of the disruptions, the top management of the airline held a virtual meeting with the pilots. One of the reasons for the disruptions was also that some section of pilots reporting sick to protest against the new contract that will result in pay revision.