Air India Express flights disrupted for second day after cabin crew call in sick

NEW DELHI: Tata Group's budget carrier Air India Express said it had cancelled around a quarter of its flights on Thursday and was taking "appropriate action" against cabin crew as services were disrupted for a second day after staff reported sick this week.

At least 175 flights have been cancelled in the past two days and several others delayed after more than 100 cabin crew took sudden sick leave on Tuesday night.

"We will be operating 283 flights today. We have mobilised all resources and Air India will support us by operating on 20 of our routes," the airline said in a statement to Reuters.

Air India was bought by salt-to-software conglomerate Tatas in 2022. Under the new structure, the airline is being merged with Vistara, while Air India Express merges with AirAsia India.

The disruptions are the latest setback to India's aviation market after Vistara was forced to scale back 25-30 flights a day because of a pilot shortage in April.

Out of over 360 daily flights, Air India Express said it has cancelled 85 on Thursday with over 90 impacted a day prior.

The airline said it was "taking appropriate steps" against some employees, referring to those cabin crew who reported sick at the last minute.

The airline, which employs over 2,000 cabin crew, flies to 31 domestic and 14 international destinations and has a fleet of over 70 aircraft.

Chief Executive Aloke Singh has said the disruptions "cascaded across the network," forcing the company to curtail the schedule over the next few days.