Kochi: After what is seen as a ‘sick leave protest’ by a section of Air India Express staff disrupted the private airline’s operations across the country, the company has reached out to the employees saying all communication channels were open.

Terming the impact of the move by over 100 employees disproportionate, the company said such an act was not representative of the 2,000-odd cabin crew of the airlines. 

Air India Express managing director Aloke Singh made the remarks in an internal email sent to employees on Wednesday. Onmanorama has seen the communication.

“Because this action (of reporting sick at the last minute) was mostly by colleagues assigned L1 role, the impact was disproportionate disrupting 90-plus flights even though other colleagues reported for duty. The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing us to curtail the schedules over the next few days. We had to do this to cope with the non-availability of crew and to recover schedules. This act is not representative of the 2,000-odd cabin crew colleagues in the company who continue to respond to the call of duty and serve our guests with dedication and pride. I am thankful to all who are standing by the airline in this hour of crisis,” Singh said.

He said a curtailed schedule was being rolled out for the next few days. “If there are concerns that need to be addressed the company leadership is available for any discussions. All communication channels remain open -- departmental townhalls (one pre-scheduled for tomorrow), monthly all-hands townhall, besides formal and informal reach out to leaders,” he said in the email.

The managing director said senior cabin crew colleagues who have seen the airline evolve from a small, niche operator to a rapidly growing, over 350 flights-a-day carrier, have a deeper stake in helping build and achieve the vision we have set for ourselves.

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. There was chaos at some airports, including those in Kerala, due to the sudden cancellation of flights, including to overseas destinations. The civil aviation ministry has sought a report from Air India Express on the flight cancellations and also asked the airline to resolve the issues promptly.

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 to merge AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself. The latest 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.

As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India. 

Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), a registered union, which claims to represent around 300 cabin crew members, mostly seniors, had also alleged that mismanagement of the affairs has affected the morale of the employees.