AI Express cancels more flights

Air India Express cancelled some flights on Wednesday as the airline grapples with crew rostering system issues, according to sources. The Tata Group-owned carrier, which generally operates around 380 flights daily, has moved to a new rostering system. Since there are some issues with the system, it is impacting the scheduling for cabin crew and pilots, the sources said.

At the Delhi airport, seven Air India Express flights — four departures and three arrivals — for the period between 1.50 am and 8 pm have been cancelled for Wednesday, sources said.

There were also flight cancellations at a few other airports, the sources added.

However, the total number of flight cancellations could not be immediately ascertained.

There was no comment from Air India Express.

The latest development comes a week after the airline witnessed disruptions due to a section of cabin crew reporting sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the carrier. The strike was called off on May 9 and the crew members who were on strike joined back duty by May 11.

On Tuesday, an official in the know had said the airline operated around 345 flights and no flights were cancelled.

On May 8, the strike was called off and the carrier also withdrew termination letters issued to 25 cabin crew following a conciliation meeting convened by the chief labour commissioner in the national capital.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the airline and Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU).

In a release on May 12, the union said all the cabin crew who had reported sick have joined back and “as such there is no delay on the part of the cabin crew”.

“All the cabin crew members who reported sick have joined their duty by May 11, 2024. However, due to a glitch in the company’s scheduling software as it was recently introduced, it is still showing that staff are reported sick,” it had said.