Air India Express strike: Flights from Kerala continue to be disrupted

Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 (IANS) The ‘mass sick’ leave taken by the Air India Express cabin crew continued to disrupt the operations of the low-cost carrier at the four airports in Kerala for the second day in succession. None of the Express flights have taken off from the airports in Kerala.Irate passengers booked to travel to various Middle Eastern destinations expressed their ire against the airline as they have tickets booked in advance, but are now unable to travel. Those whose visas are expiring are the worst affected.There were unconfirmed reports that around 30 of the striking cabin crew were served dismissal notices for failing to turn up for duty. On Thursday, around 74 scheduled flights, domestic and international, were cancelled.It was in the early hours of Wednesday that the cabin crew resorted to protest by going on mass medical leave. The reason for this was to express their ire at how the airline management presently under the Tata group has failed to respond to their demands which have been repeatedly raised earlier. This matter is presently being looked up by the Labour Commissioner.Reports indicated that there was going to be a conciliatory talk between the management and the striking crew members later in the day.–IANSsg/dpb