Dhaka: Hundreds of Air India Express employees threatened the airline to go on indefinite strike from January 15 over disagreements related to issuing of contracts.

According to reports, the low-cost subsidiary Air India Express of soon-to-be-privatised Air India operates to many popular destinations in the Middle East, and a strike could affect the airline on a large scale. The crisis comes when the carrier is in the final stages of being taken over by Tatas and a possible merger with AirAsia India in the coming days.

Reports mentioned President of Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), as saying, “The contract period for cabin crew was reduced to one year from five years. At the same time, the contracts of other staff and new recruits are for five years. We met the management nine times in the presence of the central labour commissioner to resolve the issue but we didn’t get any positive response.”

The AIXEU have over 500 cabin crew members, hence any such strike is likely to affect flight services largely.

Reports mentioned Air India Express’ CEO has received the notice but is yet to respond.