AI Express cabin crew union, airline management discuss various issues

Representatives of a cabin crew union at Air India Express and airline management on Tuesday held discussions on salary and other issues during the meeting convened by the labour department as part of the ongoing conciliation proceedings, according to a source.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 2, the source said.

The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), which represents a section of the cabin crew at the airline, had filed a complaint before the labour department last year. Following the complaint, a conciliation process is happening under the Industrial Disputes Act.

Room sharing, lack of proper support, revised salary structure and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members of Air India Express are among the issues flagged by the union.
 

The source, on the condition of anonymity, said various issues were discussed at the meeting held on Tuesday, including those related to salary and accommodation for cabin crew during layovers.

At the meeting, the management representatives assured that the issues will be looked into, the source added.

There was no comment from the airline on the meeting.

Other issues that came up for discussion were about more utilisation of cabin crew at their base stations and steps to address problems related to airport entry passes for some cabin crew members, the source said.

Earlier this month, the AIXEU 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.

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 Tata Group-owned airline, had resulted in significant flight disruptions.

Tata Group is in the process of merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India.