Cabin crew of Air India Express (AI Express) withdrew their strike on Thursday evening after the airline agreed to look into issues raised by them, the PTI reported citing sources. The airline had agreed to withdraw termination letters issued to 25 cabin crew members, the report said.

The decision came after a conciliation meeting between the cabin crew representatives and the airline representatives at the Office of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in New Delhi earlier in the day.

After two-and-a-half days of stalemate, the airline and the crew came to a middle ground, putting an end to the suffering of hundreds of flyers. Hundreds of flights were cancelled since the night of May 7 as a section of the cabin crew reported sick in a protest against alleged mismanagement.

On Thursday, the airline had issued termination letters to around 25 cabin crew members who were on strike.

The Tata Group-owned airline had cancelled over 170 flights since Tuesday night amid the crisis.

The airline had set a deadline of 4 pm on Thursday for the other protesting cabin crew members to resume work.

It was learnt that the termination letter accused the agitating cabin crew members of causing embarrassment, reputational damage and monetary loss to the airline. The sudden sick leave by a large number of cabin crew members pointed to a pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without a justifiable cause, the letter had said.