Air India Express: AI Express flight cancellations: Cong, CPI seek Aviation Ministry intervention

Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of scores of Air India Express international flights being cancelled at the last minute and irate passengers protesting at airports across Kerala, both the Congress and the CPI on Wednesday demanded urgent intervention by the Centre to solve the problem.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan wrote to Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia highlighting the plight of the passengers and seeking his urgent intervention to ensure alternative travel arrangements for those affected.

Satheesan, in his letter, said that the majority of the travellers learned about the cancellations only after they arrived at the airports. “Many people heading to the Middle East face the risk of losing their employment since they will be unable to return on time,” he said.

Citing reports, he said the airline did not even extend the basic courtesy of providing the stranded passengers with food or accommodation. “In these urgent circumstances, I request your good self to provide alternative arrangements to resolve the bottleneck due to the unreasonable cancellation of multiple international and domestic services of Air India Express from Kerala,” Satheesan said.

CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam too sought urgent intervention of the ministry to solve the travel problems of passengers. In a statement, he said thousands of passengers were stranded at various airports across the country after more than 70 services of the Air India Express were cancelled. “It has also affected the employment prospects of those seeking a job abroad and those who have to rejoin work after holidays,” Viswam said. He said that according to the airline, the present predicament was due to the mass leave taken by the cabin crew of Air India Express. Viswam said the airline’s employees were forced to take such a step as the management did not try to address their concerns and problems. “This shows that the privatisation of Air India, which was a public sector entity, has not only affected the employees but also the passengers,” he added. Passengers, mostly travelling to the Gulf nations, claimed that they were informed about the flight cancellations after they completed their security check and were waiting to board the flight. Many of them, who protested at the airports, claimed that they could lose their jobs if they did not reach their place of work today, while some others’ work visas are about to expire.

Air India Express has offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date, but affected travellers are not happy with it. Air India Express has cancelled “scores of flights” due to a shortage of cabin crew members as a section of them are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, according to sources.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.

The sources today said several cabin crew members started reporting sick since Monday evening and as there are not enough cabin crew members, “scores of flights” have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Kannur.