Air India Express union seeks CLC’s intervention amid operations woes

 New Delhi, May 22: The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) on Tuesday sought the Delhi Chief Labour Commissioner’s intervention in the ongoing operations issues in the airline. In a letter to the CLC, AIXEU President K.K. Vijayakumar said that the union wants to bring the official’s attention to some insights regarding the number of flight cancellations and delays on a daily basis by Air India Express management following the conciliation meeting held on May 9.

“As per the conclusion of the conciliation, all cabin crew reported back for flying duties by May 10. However, it is shocking and surprising to note that many flights are still being cancelled and delayed, citing reason of ‘crew constraints’,” it read. “Upon inquiry, it has come to our notice that the operations department lost cabin crew data due to the transition from old software ARMS to the new (CAE) app managed by the scheduling department.

The concerned department has asked the crew to submit their details for updating the data in the new system, i.e., CAE. Additionally, more than 100 cabin crew members have been sitting idle, without flying duties for the last two months due to the non-availability of Airport Entry Passes,” Vijayakumar said in his letter. “To cover up, daily flight cancellations and delays, cabin crew are manually assisting the scheduling department base-wise.

The cabin crew are doing their utmost to restore and operate flights on time for public convenience. Furthermore, the reduced number of departures is adversely affecting the cabin crew’s salaries. Therefore, I kindly request your urgent intervention for the needful,” he added.