Air India Suspends 10 Cabin Crew Members Amid Concerns Over Revised Policy

Air India on Monday suspended 10 cabin crew members for allegedly instigating other members to protest against the airline's revised policy that also requires a section of them to share rooms during layovers, a source said on Monday.

Ahead of Vistara's merger with itself next month, Air India has introduced the revised policy for cabin crew members that will be effective from December 1.

The All India Cabin Crew Association has opposed the room-sharing requirement, terming it as "illegal, bad in law, and Void ab initio on multiple fronts." It has also sought the intervention of the labour ministry to resolve the issues.

Against this backdrop, the Tata Group-owned airline has taken action against some cabin crew members.

The source in the know said 10 cabin crew members have been suspended for allegedly instigating others to protest against the policy.

There was no official comment from Air India on the issue.

Loss-making Air India was acquired by the Tata Group in January 2022 and since then, various changes have been introduced as part of efforts to boost the full-service carrier.

Air India and Vistara together will have a staff strength of around 25,000. Out of them, there will be about 12,000 cabin crew members.

The association has also written to Air India Chief Campbell Wilson, urging him "not to violate" the existing status quo, and respect the sanctity of the Industrial Tribunal and the pending Industrial dispute over the issue.

It has demanded hotel accommodation and conditions of accommodation in line with the policy on accommodation for pilots, as per the previous agreements and tribunal awards.

Under the new policy effective December 1, members will be required to share rooms during layovers except for cabin executives and those operating ultra-long-haul flights ahead of the merger of Vistara with it, scheduled for November 11.

Cabin crew members on ultra-long-haul flights will get single rooms during layovers as well as during unscheduled layovers in the event of a flight diversion, as per the internal communication. Generally, ultra-long-haul flights are those having a duration of 16 hours or more. Air India operates such flights to North America.

Cabin executives, who are senior members with around 8 years of flying experience, will also get single rooms during layovers, as per the internal communication.