Angry passengers staged protests at various airports across the county on Wednesday, May 8, after Air India Express canceled more than 80 international and domestic flights following a “mass sick leave” of senior cabin crew. While airlines are offering passengers full refunds or free rescheduling to other dates, passengers don’t seem satisfied.
Multiple videos of angry passengers stranded at Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports have gone viral on social media. In a video posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), a group of passengers traveling to Goa, Guwahati and Srinagar reportedly shouted at the Air India Express crew after their flights were canceled at the last minute.
Another video from news agency ANI showed passengers sitting at the Thiruvananthapuram airport with tense expressions.
One of the flyers claimed she could lose her job if she didn’t fly to work today. “What’s the point of me traveling on May 10? If I don’t reach there by May 9, my boss will say don’t come and I will lose my job.” said the man, who traveled from Kannur with twin babies and her husband The Sharjah-bound flyer told PTI. According to the woman, she had been waiting at the airport since Tuesday night, when her flight was scheduled to depart, but was offered accommodation or other facilities by the airline.
Another woman who took a flight to Muscat to meet her ailing husband said she learned of the cancellation only after arriving at Kannur airport.
“I was due to fly to Muscat around 8am this morning but my flight was cancelled. I had to travel to Muscat due to a medical emergency. After an argument with the airline staff, they I provided a ticket for tomorrow. Passengers have been informed that there will be no tickets before May 17 and refunds will be available after 14 days.
Meanwhile, another man who urgently needed to travel to Sharjah on Tuesday night did not wait to cancel his ticket and quickly purchased a ticket on Indigo for $37,000.
Several Air India Express cabin crew members have collectively taken “sick leave” to protest against the Tata management’s actions against the AIX Connect (AirAsia India and Air India Express) merger.
A spokesman for the airline said in a statement: “Beginning last night, some of our cabin crew reported illness at the last minute, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. While we are engaging with cabin crew to understand the reasons behind these incidents, However, our team is actively working to resolve this issue to minimize any inconvenience to our guests.”
“We sincerely apologize to our guests for this unexpected disruption and stress that this situation does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide. Guests affected by the cancellation will receive a full refund or be rescheduled to an alternative date free of charge. Today Passengers traveling on our flights are asked to check whether their flights are affected before traveling to the airport,” the statement added.
(Inputs from ANI, PTI)