Air India Express flights disrupted by crew taking sudden sick leave (updated)

Air Asia Co

08/05/2024 06:44

(Updates with comments from CEO in paragraph 2 to 4)
    By Tanvi Mehta
       NEW DELHI, May 8 (Reuters) - More than 90 flights at
Tata Group budget carrier Air India Express have been disrupted
since Tuesday night by cabin crew taking sudden sick leave, the
airline said on Wednesday.
    "The disruptions have cascaded across the network, forcing
us to curtail the schedules over the next few days," Air India
Express Chief Executive Aloke Singh said in a statement, without
giving details of the schedule changes.
    More than 100 cabin crew had reported sick prior to their
rostered flight duty at the last minute, "severely disrupting
our operations", Singh said.
    Air India Express did not immediately respond to a Reuters 
request seeking details about the sickness.
    The disruptions are the latest setback to India's aviation
market after Tata Group-owned Vistara Airlines was forced to
scale back 25-30 flights per day because of a pilot shortage in
April. 
    Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group announced in 2022
the merger of Air India with Vistara, while Air India Express
merges with Air Asia