Air India Express has terminated at least 25 cabin crew members, a day after hundreds of employees went on sick leave, causing disruptions to flight operations.

According to sources, the management made the decision to terminate cabin crew members who took sick leave between Tuesday and Wednesday due to their unprofessional behaviour, which inconvenienced thousands of passengers.

The mass sick leave was viewed as a pre-meditated and coordinated abstention from work without any justifiable reason, violating Air India Express Limited employee service rules.

The disruption caused by this incident affected more than 95 flights of Air India Express between Tuesday evening and Wednesday, impacting over 10,000 passengers.

Air India Express CEO, Aloke Singh, announced plans to reduce flight operations in the coming days.

“This act is certainly not representative of the 2,000-odd cabin crew colleagues in the company who continue to respond to the call of duty and serve our guests with dedication and pride. I am thankful to all who are standing by the airline in this hour of crisis,” he said in a statement.

Singh invited staff for discussions to address any concerns they may have and assured that all communication channels are open.

Sources within the Ministry of Civil Aviation revealed that cancellations and delays began on Tuesday night, continuing into Wednesday morning, which led to flight operations being curtailed due to a sudden shortage of crew members. Some senior crew members allegedly switched off their mobile phones just before flight operations, citing health issues.

(With ANI inputs)