AIR India Express cabin crew on Thursday decided to withdraw their strike and the airline agreed to reinstate 25 staff who were terminated from service, according to sources. A section of the cabin crew started reporting sick from Tuesday night to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline, forcing cancellation of more than 170 flights and impacting thousands of passengers at various airports.

 

The decisions to end the strike and withdraw the termination letters were agreed upon during a conciliation meeting between the representatives of cabin crew and the airline management at the Office of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in the national capital onThursday. The meeting, which went on for nearly five hours, was betweenrepresentatives of Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) andairline management. The union is affiliated to the Bharatiya MazdoorSangh (BMS), an associate of the RSS. After the meeting, Girish Chandra Arya, All India Secretary of theBMS, said the termination of 25 cabin crew of Air India Express hasbeen withdrawn.

 

Both parties will discuss the issues and there will be a meeting again on May 28, he said. After detailed discussion, persuasion and on appeal of theConciliation Officer and the Chief Labour Commissioner, the unionrepresentatives agreed that “all the cabin crew members who havereported sick will report for duty with fitness certificate immediately, according to a document signed by the representatives of theunion and the airline. Labour Commissioner (Central), the management agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew who have been terminated on May 7 and 8, 2024 for reporting sick as a concerted action immediately. “The management will review the cases of these crew as per service regulations,” it said. As per the document, the representatives of the airline assured that all the issues of cabin crew raised before the management and during conciliation proceedings will be looked into and resolved.