Air India Express crisis: Several flights cancelled in Kolkata; passengers suffer

Kolkata: Air India Express on Thursday cancelled flight operations to two destinations from Kolkata due to the ongoing crisis that began after many cabin crew of the airline reported sick.

According to officials of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here, the airline cancelled Ayodhya–Kolkata-Ayodhya and Hyderabad-Kolkata flights.

The sudden mass sick leave taken by cabin crew had put the airline in trouble and it had to cancel around 88 flights across the country on Wednesday. More than 200 cabin crew had started reporting sick from Tuesday night to protest against alleged mismanagement at the airline.

The airline cancelled IX764 and IX765 (Ayodhya – Kolkata – Ayodhya) and IX 587 (Hyderabad to Kolkata), as of now, an Airports Authority of India spokesperson said.

These were among the total flights that the airline cancelled on Thursday since hundreds of cabin crew did not report to work.

“Air India Express is making every possible effort to minimise the inconvenience caused to our guests by this unexpected situation. We will be operating 283 flights today. We have mobilised all resources and Air India will support us by operating on 20 of our routes,” an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

“However, 85 of our flights stand cancelled and we urge our guests to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport. If their flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond 3 hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees," the statement said.

The statement also said while it will continue to engage with its cabin crew colleagues with a commitment to address any concern, the airline is taking appropriate steps against certain individuals as their actions have caused grave inconvenience to thousands of the airline’s guests.

Notably, the airline sacked around 25 cabin crew for taking mass sick leave on Wednesday.