The strike at Tata-owned Air India Express got called off on Thursday evening after a tense five-hour standoff between the union and management, which agreed to consider the demands of the workers even as it decided to reinstate 25 crew members who were sacked for reporting sick.

A section of the cabin crew started reporting sick from Tuesday night to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline, forcing the cancellation of more than 170 flights and impacting thousands of passengers at various airports.

After issuing termination letters to 25 crew members, the airline had given them 4p.m. deadline for other crew members who had reported sick to join or face stringent action. Sources said 250 cabin crew reported sick on Thursday.

The decisions to end the strike and withdraw the termination letters were agreed upon during a conciliation meeting between the representatives of the Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) and the management at the Office of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) here on Thursday.

The union agreed that “all the cabin crew members who have reported sick will report for duty with fitness certificate immediately,” according to a document signed by the representatives of the union and the airline.

“On appeal of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), the management agreed to reinstate 25 cabin crew who were 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,” the document said.

Earlier in the day, the Tata group airline said it has cancelled 85 flights or about 23 per cent of the total operational capacity due to cabin crew shortage and will be operating 283 flights.

Discontent has been brewing among a section of staff at AI Express after the start of the process to merge AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself. A section of the cabin crew has alleged mismanagement and lack of equality in the treatment of staff.

The events raise concerns about the ongoing integration process in Air India, which the Tatas acquired in January 2022. In April, the pilots at Vistara had reported sick while protesting its merger with Air India which led to a disruption of flights.