India, May 14 -- Days after Air India Express, part of Tata Air India cancelled several flights due to the unavailability of crew, and a month after a similar incident temporarily disrupted the operations of Vistara, the two airlines which will soon merge, conducted a townhall, the first such, for their employees, to address concerns arising from the imminent union.

Ever since the merger was announced on November 2022, employee unions of both airlines have aired concerns ranging from career progression to inequality in treatment, lower pay to job security. Both recent disruptions can be attributed, directly or indirectly, to this.

Air India chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Campbell Wilson and Vistara's CEO Vinod ...