Recently Chief Commercial Officer Ankur Garg said that, last month, a very small section of the cabin crew based out of two locations was behind the Air India Express flight cancellations, and the issue is now well resolved. He also added that, in six months Air India Express may add 24 aircraft, taking its total fleet to around 100 planes by 2024-end. Last month the airline faced two major challenges while stabilizing its operations.
Between May 8 and May 12, It initially had to cancel 164 flights when over 100 cabin crew members went on sick leave at the last minute. It was to protest against reduced salaries and other issues. A few days later, flight cancellations restarted because of the disturbances caused by a disorganized transition to a new flight crew rostering software. When we try to grow too fast, it puts some pressure on human resources. However, this specific case pertained to a very small section of the crew based out of certain places. From the 45 stations that we operate, this problem took place only at two stations. And, this issue is now well resolved and was handled during that week he said at the Aviation India 2024 event.
In January 2022, The Tata Group took control of Air India. Air India Express, a low-cost airline, is a subsidiary of Air India. Presently, AIX Connect is in the process of being merged into Air India Express. On the 26th of April, Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), wrote a letter to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran. The letter was mainly written regarding the removal of allowances, which will result in reduced salaries. It also brought to the fore the perceived disparity in treatment between Air India Express employees and those of AIX Connect.
Garg said that integrating personnel of the two airlines is not inherently difficult. However, when the airline is simultaneously changing its systems, expanding aircraft operations, and integrating human resources it becomes challenging. The two carriers, Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) had a combined fleet of 54 aircraft at the time of Air India’s privatization. We have brought our current fleet to 76 aircraft, by adding 22 more planes. By the end of this year, we expect to have a fleet of 100 planes, says Garg.
He also said that Air India Express is channeling a significant amount of traffic to its parent airline, Air India, particularly through major airports in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. When Air India Express recognizes substantial business or corporate traffic on a specific route, it coordinates the flight timings on that route with those of Air India.
