Air India Express Cancels Over 80 Flights Due To Crew Woes

After Vistara, crew trouble has now forced another Tata Group airline to hit pause to its services. Air India Express has cancelled more than 80 flights since Tuesday night with a section of senior cabin crew reporting sick. This was to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at various airports in the country.

Scores of Air India Express passengers, mostly scheduled to travel to the Gulf nations, protested at airports in Kerala against last-minute flight cancellations.

AI Express operates about 200 daily flights, the majority of them international. Cancellation of almost 80 so far means 40% of the schedule is impacted.

“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 Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement.

Apologising to the customers for the “unexpected disruption”, the spokesperson said those impacted by the cancellations will be offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date.

The development at Air India Express comes a month after Tata Group full-service carrier Vistara witnessed pilot woes, forcing it to temporarily cut down capacity by 10 per cent or 25-30 flights daily.