Air India Express to arrange alternate flights for passengers amid crew shortage

Air India Express is accommodating alternative flights for passengers who were affected by over 90 flight cancellations on Wednesday.

Besides, the airline has released a revised flight schedule and has asked people to check if their flight is affected by the disruption before heading to the airport. “We are also accommodating affected guests on alternative flights, including those of Group airlines, to ensure they reach their destinations at the earliest,” the airline said in a statement.

Passengers were asked to visit the “Flight Status” section on the airline’s website.

“If their flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond three hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any fees on Tia on WhatsApp (+91 6360012345) or on airindiaexpress.com,” the statement said.

Earlier, the airline’s CEO Aloke Singh said it would curtail flights for the next few days to cope with the non-availability of crew members. Air India Express was forced to cancel more than 90 flights today due to senior crew members reporting sick overnight, without any prior notice.

In a message to the airline’s staff, Singh said since last evening, more than 100 cabin crew members have reported sick before their rostered flight duty, “at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations”.

“The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing us to curtail the schedules over the next few days. We had to do this to cope with the non-availability of crew and to recover schedules,” Singh said.

Tata Group-owned Air India Express operates around 360 flights daily in the ongoing summer schedule that started in late March.