Intervene urgently, resolve AI Express strike: Venugopal writes to Scindia

After Air India Express cancelled several domestic and international flights in the wake of its crew strike, Congress leader K C Venugopal on Wednesday sought immediate intervention of Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and called for urgent measures to ensure the passengers are not affected.

In a letter to Scindia, Venugopal said the flight cancellations are causing agony to fellow citizens, especially those going to the West Asia.

He said Air India Express is a low cost airline that is essential to connect our hardworking middle class workers across the world to their homeland.

"When 80+ flights are cancelled due to employees' strikes, it causes huge agony to our fellow citizens, especially those in the West Asia. Wrote to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to intervene urgently and resolve the strike and restore regular Air India Express flights at the earliest," Venugopal said in a post on X while sharing his letter.

"I am writing to bring to your kind attention the urgent matter of the ongoing strike by Air India Express crew members, which has resulted in significant disruptions to flight operations and left hundreds of passengers stranded across various airports," he said in his letter to the minister.

As per recent reports, Venugopal claimed Air India Express has been forced to cancel over 80 international and domestic flights since last night across the country.
 

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded in various airports in the country including Delhi, Kochi, Kannur, Varanasi, and Thiruvananthapuram, he said, adding that flights from major international airports such as Sharjah, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain to various sectors in the country were also cancelled.

The cancellations, attributed to a lightning strike by the airline's employees, have caused inconvenience to travellers, including women, children and elderly individuals, the Congress leader said.

The sudden cancellation of flights to key destinations such as Sharjah, Muscat, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi has not only disrupted plans but has also impacted individuals who were scheduled to renew their work visas in the West Asia, he noted.

"I urge you to intervene urgently and facilitate discussions between the concerned parties to find a swift resolution to the ongoing strike. Additionally, measures should be put in place to ensure that passengers affected by these cancellations are provided with adequate support and redressal for the inconvenience caused," Venugopal said.

Air India Express has cancelled more than 90 flights since Tuesday night with a section of senior cabin crew reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at various airports in the country.

Scores of flights have also been delayed and the airline's passengers, mostly scheduled to travel to the Gulf nations, protested at airports in Kerala against flight cancellations as many of them were informed only after the security checks.

The civil aviation ministry on Wednesday sought a report from Air India Express on the flight cancellations and also asked the airline to resolve the issues promptly.

On Wednesday, sources told PTI that more than 200 cabin crew are believed to have reported sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline.

The cabin crew shortage has resulted in the cancellation of more than 90 flights since Tuesday night and scores of flights were delayed.

Flight disruptions are happening at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut, Delhi and Bengaluru. Domestic as well as international services, including to various Gulf countries, have also been hit, they added.

An Air India Express spokesperson said the airline is engaging with the cabin crew members to understand the reasons for reporting sick and also apologised for the flight disruptions.