A-I Express to defer inquiries against cabin crew; next meeting on Aug 8

Air India Express on Tuesday decided to defer the inquiry process initiated against nearly 200 cabin crew members for reporting sick in May when the airline faced significant operational disruptions, according to sources.

The decision was taken at the meeting convened by the Central Labour Commissioner (Central) in the national capital as part of the ongoing conciliation proceedings.

At the meeting, representatives of the Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) mentioned about the issuance of charge sheets to around 200 cabin crew members in June and sought the withdrawal, the sources said.

They added that on the advice of the conciliation officer, the representatives of the airline's management agreed to defer the inquiry process related to the charge sheets.

AIXEU, which represents a section of the cabin crew at the airline, had filed a complaint before the labour department last year. Following the complaint, a conciliation process is happening under the Industrial Disputes Act. The union is affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).

It has been decided that the charge sheets will be kept in abeyance and the inquiry process will not be pursued pending conciliation proceedings, Girish Chandra Arya, All India Secretary of BMS, told PTI.

When conciliation proceedings are going on, the airline's management should not take any coercive action, Arya, who attended the meeting on Tuesday, said.

There was no immediate comment from Air India Express about Tuesday's conciliation meeting.

Various other issues, including those related to hotel accommodation and scheduling of crew, will also be discussed bilaterally between the management and the crew.

The next conciliation meeting will be held on August 8.

Meanwhile, on Monday, a delegation of BMS and AIXEU representatives held a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu and discussed various issues.

Among others, the union suggested to the minister that a tri-party meeting should be convened to discuss the Air India Express cabin crew issues. Apart from the union and management representatives, the suggestion was to have officials from the civil aviation ministry for the meeting, Arya said.

The conciliation proceedings under the labour law are going on with respect to various issues, including about room sharing, lack of proper support and revised salary structure, flagged by the union.

On May 9, the cabin crew strike was called off after a meeting of the representatives of the union and the airline that was convened by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in the national capital. The strike, to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, had resulted in significant flight disruptions.

Tata Group is in the process of merging Air India Express and AIX Connect, as well as Vistara with Air India.