In a heart-wrenching development, Amrita, whose husband was critically ill in an ICU in Oman, faced immense sorrow as her Air India Express flight got cancelled last week, depriving her of the chance to bid farewell to her husband. Despite having tickets booked for May 8 to visit him in Muscat, Amrita was shocked to discover upon reaching the airport that her flight had been called off.

Despite her earnest pleas, Amrita managed to secure a ticket for the following day on another Air India Express flight. However, her hopes were dashed once again when this flight too was cancelled, leaving her with no option but to abandon her travel plans entirely. Tragically, on Monday, she received the devastating news of her husband's passing from Oman.

Expressing the family's anguish, Amrita's mother voiced their frustration, highlighting the injustice of not being able to bid a final farewell to her husband. She revealed that Amrita's husband had expressed his desire to see his wife and children, prompting them to make the travel arrangements.

Amrita later recounted her distressing experience, revealing that the airline had conveyed their inability to offer any further assistance after the second flight cancellation. Despite her husband's critical condition following a massive heart attack, she had reassured him over the phone of her efforts to be by his side.

The airline, Air India Express, has remained silent on the matter thus far. Last week, the airline had to cancel numerous flights due to a shortage of cabin crew members, with some reporting sick in protest against perceived mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline.

Tensions among certain cabin crew members had been brewing, particularly following the commencement of the merger process between AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) and Air India Express.

The strike by a segment of the cabin crew was called off on May 10, and the airline retracted termination letters issued to 25 striking cabin crew members. During the period from May 8 to May 10, over 260 flights had to be cancelled by Air India Express due to the shortage of cabin crew, according to sources within the airline.

The airline announced on May 12 its gradual restoration of flights and stabilization of the network, with a return to full normalcy expected by Tuesday. Simultaneously, the cabin crew union confirmed that all members who had reported sick had resumed duty by May 11.