Consumer Complaint against Airlines

Airlines Complaints

Indian Airlines Industry has recently become one of the fastest-growing airlines industries in the world. They generate a huge amount of income and employment. There are about 450 airports and more than 1000 registered aircrafts in India today.

But nothing can ruin a holiday than diligently planning a whole trip with excitement, only to arrive disappointedly at the airport to find out that there is some glitch.

The most common airline complaints in 2019 was lost baggage. According to a recent survey, an average of 1 in 150 people have their checked baggage lost or left behind every year. The other common airline complaints include, promised refund not given, ticket/flight cancelled without prior knowledge, rude staff behaviour etc.

If you have faced these kinds of problems with your airline, you must have brought it to airline authorities' notice by complaining. In this article, we have mentioned India's famous airlines, and the types of complaints the airlines' passengers face with them.

FAMOUS AIRLINES IN INDIA

1. Go Air: Go Air has secured a spot in the list of best Airlines in India. It was founded in November 2005 by Jeh Wadia, an Indian industrialist. In October 2017, it was India's fifth largest airline and had a considerable market share of 8.4%. The airline is a fully-owned subsidiary of Wadia Group and started its operations in November 2005. The airline operates 230 daily flights to 30 significant destinations, which have 24 domestic and 6 international destinations. The airline has its hubs at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kannur, and Kolkata.

2. Air India Express: Air India Express is an economical airline having its headquarters in Kerala. Airlines are operated by Air India Express Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of India's national carrier Air India. It runs around 649 flights per week to 33 Middle East and Southeast destinations. The airline has a fleet of aircraft 25 Boeing 737-800 and carries approximately 4.3 million passengers every year.

3. Spice Jet: Spice Jet is a low-cost airline having its headquarters in Gurugram, India. Initially, in 1994 it was established as air taxi provider ModiLuft and then later in 2004, it was renamed Spice Jet by an Indian entrepreneur and started its operation in May 2005. According to data in March 2019, Spicejet was the second-largest airline in India and had 13.6% of the market share in the number of passengers. Spicejet has a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. It operates 312 flights daily to 55 destinations, which include 7 international and 47 domestic destinations. Many flights are operated from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

4. IndiGo: Indigo was founded in 2006 by Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal as a private company and had its headquarters in Gurugram. The airline had its first aircraft in July 2006, and it started its operations in 2016. By 2012 it became the largest Indian carrier, and in 2015 it went limited and issued a share to the public. Indigo has an immense fleet size in India and a maximum domestic share. Also, Indigo is the largest individual Asian low-cost carrier in passengers' carried and jet fleet size. Maximum flights of Indigo are operated from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.

5. Air India: Air India is a very own national carrier of India and was founded by J.R.D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932. It has its headquarters in New Delhi, and after the second world war, it became a public limited company. Afterward, it was renamed Air India and is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise. With a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, the airline serves 94 international and domestic destinations. Air India has two sister companies Air India Express and Alliance Air, which operates in India and Asian destinations.

6. Air Asia India: Air Asia India started as a joint venture with AirAsia Berhad and Tata Sons. AirAsia Berhad has a 49% stake, and Tata sons have the remaining 51%. It started its operations on 12 July 2014 from Bangalore and has a market share of 6.5%. With a fleet of Airbus A 320-200 aircraft, it serves 24 destinations.

TYPES OF AIRLINES COMPLAINTS

Indian Airlines has seen one of the best growth among all airline industries of this world, but with all this growth and rapid development, our aviation sector has also experienced many kinds of turbulence.

Among 1000s of Indian airline companies, some of the most famous airlines such as AirIndia, Spicejet etc. have seen their customers regularly filing a complaint against them.

Some widespread airline complaints include rude behavior of staff, refund not given, and baggage lost. Apart from this, many airlines have faced aircraft turn-around times, which results in delays in flight for its passengers. Here are some common types of airline complaints:

1. Customer Service
In the past few years, many passengers of some highly reputed airlines have shared their experiences where they had to face the rude behavior of the airline's customer service representatives. Most passengers faced rude behavior, absent onboard services, and poor language skills from the airline's representatives in these kinds of complaints.

2. Flight Delay
In 2019, the Air Passengers Association president accepted that many airlines are facing aircraft turn-around time issues. These turn-around time issues are the main reason behind the delay of flights, which has left many passengers frustrated. Many top airline customers have reported that they were not informed about their flight's updated timings by the airline industry. Thus, failing to use emails or SMS services to inform their customers has made flight delays a pervasive and frustrating issue for consumers in almost all the major cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai etc.

3. Booking and Refund
Another prevalent issue faced by many air passengers is related to airline industries' booking and refund conditions. The most-reported complaint under this category is the lack of flexibility in tickets where airline industries usually decline to refund the amount if something unexpected happens, such as illness or accident of a family member. Apart from this, many famous airlines are reported for being very slow in the procedure of a promised refund. Due to this, passengers have to struggle, and sometimes they are not appropriately compensated. Moreover in recent times of pandemic the most common consumer complaint was that passengers are not getting refund inspite of the fact that their flights were cancelled by the Airlines due to Covid-19 pandemic.

4. Lost Baggage
Lost baggage is one of the most frequently experienced and common issues faced by air passengers in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and Kolkata. The airline industries have ignored the inconvenience faced by their customers in case of misplaced luggage. For the past few years and indeed, it has left many passengers upset and disappointed. Many customers have claimed that their lost or misplaced luggage carried their valuables, urgent medications etc. but they have not been compensated appropriately by the airlines.

5. Cleanliness of Cabins
Many airline industries of today's time claim to be more aware of the cleanliness of their cabins, but many passengers of these airlines have actively reported their concern about cleanliness and hygiene. Apart from the poor condition of cabins, cleanliness of washrooms and dirty seats are also some of the most common issues faced by these airline industries' passengers.

5. Meals
Onboard catering has always remained a concerning area for airline industries, which directly results in the passengers' disappointment with the meals offered to them. Many passengers have been served the wrong food and the food quality has also remained low compared to passengers' expectations.

6. Hidden Charges
The bulk of customers' anger is aimed at low-cost airlines that have additional hidden charges that disturb the trip's budget. Such airlines have complicated ancillary fee rules which customers have to read.

7. Change of Aircraft
In recent years there is a trend among some customers where they specifically book preferred seats in preferred aircraft but they feel very dissatisfied when they come to know that they have to change the plane and their preferred seats have been changed.

How to resolve Airlines complaints?

1. File support ticket/send an email:
You can always contact airlines through their official website by going to their contact us section and by sending them an email. Customer service emails of some leading Airlines are:

Air India Express - customersupport@airindiaexpress.in
Spice Jet - custrelations@spicejet.com
Go Air - feedback@goair.in
Vistata - custrelations@airvistara.com

2. Call Customer support:
All these airlines have a 24*7 customer care number who are always willing to help the customer. To resolve these complaints, you can always call their toll-free customer service numbers. The customer care numbers of some of top airlines in India are :

Indigo Customer Care No. - 0124 617 3838
GoAir Customer Care No. - 1860 210 0999
AirIndia Customer Care No. - 1860 233 1407
SpiceJet Customer Care No. - 096540 03333
AirAsia Customer Care No. - 080 4666 2222
Vistara Customer Care No. - 092892 28888
AirCosta Customer Care No. - 1800-4250-0666

3. Report to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA):
If the Airlines is not willing to help or acting aloof at any stage then the consumer can file a complaint with a Government Agency that oversees air travel. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the governing body overseeing air travel in India.

4. Send Legal Notice:
Consumers can send legal notices to Airlines in case it is unable to resolve his complaint. It is one of the efficient ways to handle the issue legally. Check below to know how to send a legal notice to Airlines?

Step 1: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step 2: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by lawyer.
Step 3: Keep a copy of it for future purposes.
Step 4: Send the legal notice to Airlines by registered post.
Step 5: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.

5. File consumer forum case:
Consumer forum deals with consumer complaints and you should approach the consumer forum if you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated.

If Airlines is not responding to your complaints even after sending legal notice by a lawyer then you should file a case against it in a consumer court.

Here is how you can file a case in the consumer court?

Step 1: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step 2: Draft the consumer complaint
Step 3: Attach all the relevant documents and proofs to support your complaint.
Step 4: Select the appropriate court for filing the complaint.
Step 5: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step 6: Submit the case along with the affidavit & fees in the court.

Flying in an airline is often a memorable experience, but sometimes it can be memorable for all wrong reasons, and we have mentioned many of those reasons above. Once again to summarize, it is to be noted that the first point of contact should be the airlines itself. Customer satisfaction is as important to airlines as it is to other businesses.

The airlines have allotted separate ticket desks, lounges and baggage claim sections to help the consumers. If this does not solve the problem then the consumer should file a written complaint to the airline. This will act as a proof that you did something from your side in later stages and moreover put pressure on the airlines.

However if the consumer is still left stranded with nowhere else to go then the consumers can always file a consumer complaint at Voxya. We at Voxya, generally receive about 1000s of complaints related to these Airlines in a month.

So how do we actually resolve these airline complaints? We start a social media campaign and then send an email to the company to resolve the complaint amicably. Moreover if strict actions need to be taken then we draft a legal notice and send it to the concerned airline.

Most Common Issue Reported for Airlines Complaints

Tickets/Flights canceled

Boarding Issues

Refund not given

Staff misbehaved

Damaged Baggage

Fight delay

Changed Seat number

Amount deducted but ticket was not booked

Double amount charged

Fraud by booking agents

Makemytrip not refunding my ticket (Makemytrip) ^Open

I had purchased a ticket for India from Brussels via the airlines Aeroflot during lockdown on **st March **** using makemytrip.com. All the flights were cancelled by the govt that time due to the COVID lockdown and hence we couldn't come to In...

Mar 25, 2023 by Dr. Pinaki Saha

Domestic leg was denied inspite of paying for the full route (Emirates Airlines) ^Open

the domestic leg was denied in spite of paying for the full route. I had a flight booked from ixe-blr-dxb-ewr. I had paid for the full route, and while rebooking the flight I was denied the domestic leg which I had to book myself and a loss o...

Mar 23, 2023 by shashank shankar

Air ticket refund not issued (Easemytrip and Qatar Airways) ^Open

I bought Air ticket from Chennai to USA through Easemytrip Portal, Due to covid flight's got cancelled.. I asked for a refund.. I followed up **+ times using multiple channels Phone/email/whatsapp, but they always said we are waiting for airlin...

Mar 19, 2023 by Balaji Sambamurthy

Flight missed due to Wrong information provided by Indigo Airlines ground staff (Indigo) ^Open

Dear Sir/Madam, I had a flight to catch with Indigo from Mumbai to Leh via Delhi which was at *:**am on *th March **, Reached Airport way on time i.e * hours prior, at baggage counter when i showed boarding Pass they scanned and said there ...

Mar 17, 2023 by Mehdi Nasiri

Not able to deliver services which was promised (Opulentus The Visa Company ) ^Open

I have started the process with opulentus as they promised me an express entry visa to Canada. I started the process in September **** and paid the sum of around **,***. I have been assured by one method or another they will surely get me my vi...

Mar 13, 2023 by Archana Tiwari

My Air ticket money deducted and refund is not given (varafi.com) ^Open

Dear Sir, On **th December **** I have booked two tickets from Varafi for Raipur to Kolkata after completion of all steps and money deducted the booking was aborted and replied by mail that your booking is aborted the same was happened twice...

Mar 13, 2023 by TUSHAR B KULKARNI

International Flight Booked on IXIGO Cancelled by Airlines Refund Not Issued (Ixigo) ^Open

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing this complaint letter to raise my concern about the refund for my flight ticket booked through IXIGO. I had booked a flight ticket from Mauritius to Cape Town on South African Airlines, scheduled on **th February...

Mar 10, 2023 by Sainath Pai

Refund expected on reschedule of flight (Make My Trip) ^Open

I had taken the MMT date change option which enabled me to reschedule the flight. After rescheduling, I was entitled to a refund of **** Rs (due to the fare difference)but now I have not received my refund amount yet. I had mailed mmt regarding...

Mar 04, 2023 by Shivanshu Srivastava

Varafi fraud PNR and non refund (Varafi com) ^Open

Booked Indigo airlines ticket for two from Rajkot to Lucknow on **th Dec for **th Feb. Varafi.com generated tickets with fake PNR and canceled last minute the booking just before check-in was to open. Came to know from Indigo the tickets were f...

Mar 02, 2023 by Prateek Kumar

Cancellation done without confirming with around 80 cancellation fees (Cleartrip) ^Open

I was informed that flight has been delayed. So I applied for refund citing this reason in the application. I was expecting full refund as flight was delayed by airlines end. There was no delay from the airlines and Cleartrip didn't even confir...

Feb 28, 2023 by Atul Singh

Further delay by spice jet (Spice Jet Airlines) ^Open

Spice jet flight got delayed * times on the same day for the same flight. **.**pm flight is now rescheduled to next day **.** am. after **.**am it got rescheduled again to **.** am. no water no service from spice jet staff the staff was also n...

Feb 27, 2023 by Aadesh Sheth

Refund Issues (Clear Trip) ^Open

Details of your booking Trip ID ************ Booking summary Bangalore → New Delhi * Feb, * travellers Booking amount Rs. *,*** Rs. *,*** by UPI Phonepe Still Refund Not coming, customer care say we are not receiving u r m...

Feb 26, 2023 by Ramachandra N

REFUND ON MY PNR (IndiGo 294) ^Open

Date- **th Feb, ****. Time - *:**-*:**pm. I had to board a *:**am flight Mum-Indore. The check-in of flight closes * hour prior and i was at the airport * hours prior but due to a long queue, i could make it at the desk at *:**-**am only. ...

Feb 26, 2023 by Tanvi Manoj Jain

Booking not confirmed but amount got debited (Agoda) ^Open

I booked a hotel from the Agoda app. After I made the payment my account got debited but the transaction showed was failed and my booking has not been confirmed....

Feb 22, 2023 by Dhruv Patwari

Spicejet flight delayed more than 3 hours compensation (Spicejet Air Line) ^Open

Hello Sir/Ma'am, This email is directed to convey the amount of discomfort my partner and I had to face at the airport while we were trying to check in for flight SG-**** on Feb *rd ****. *. Both of us were carrying a laptop bag and a han...

Feb 22, 2023 by Sankalp Shukla

Full Refund of Flight Tickets (Ease my trip com) ^Open

BIG CHEAT BY EaseMyTrip(EMT) I booked a ticket via Booking ID - EMT********* for Mumbai to Goa for Feb **, ****, and paid the amount, after payment, I found that the Ticket was booked for March **, ****, due to a technical glitch on the EMT we...

Feb 22, 2023 by ASHISH KUMAR

No response to Refund Request (Air india) ^Open

I had booked * tickets one for me and one for my mother who was accompaning me to the destination. On the travel day we had done the web check-in and reached the airport where we were denied to issue the actual boarding pass in exchange of the...

Feb 14, 2023 by Prerana Mahapatra

Refund not recieved (Ethiad Airways) ^Open

Respected Sir Madam I Am Harshil Patel i have booked my flight from easemytrip com for Mumbai toDublin for******** on the day of my flight when i show at the airport Etihad authority told me that yourticket has been cancelled automatically by t...

Feb 06, 2023 by HARSHIL AMIT KUMAR PATEL

Refund not credited (Air India Ease My Trip) ^Open

Hello, I Had Planned A Trip From CCU-BOM And BOM-CCU Via Air India Through EMT For The Month Of January **** Which Did Not Eventually Happen Due To Third Wave Of COVID-**. So I Had Contacted Air India And They Had Cancelled My Trip By Keeping ...

Feb 06, 2023 by Arindam Ghosh

HappyEasyGo not refunding for 9 months (Happyeasygo) ^Open

On April **, ****, I had purchased a ticket from Patna to Bangalore. I saw an error in the passenger name after making the reservation, so I immediately called Indigo Airlines to cancel. Indigo said that the refund was processed immediately. ...

Jan 30, 2023 by Kumar Sameer Ranjan

Charged but no services provided (Makemytrip) ^Closed

*. I booked Spicemax category tickets where your website apart from offering priority checkin, etc , also offers seats with extra leg space. But As I tried to web checkin after making the full payment , it does not allow me to select spicemax s...

Mar 17, 2023 by Pawan Kumar Rai

Cleartrip is neither confirmed tickets nor refunding the amount (Cleartrip) ^Closed

I was booking flight tickets from Milan to Bangalore. In the middle of the booking I got a call from cleartrip and they promoted me to book through telebooking. I made full payment but they didn’t confirm the tickets for a whole day. When I e...

Feb 23, 2023 by Cinuta Gayatri

Incomplete Name in International flight ticket (Flipkart) ^Closed

I have booked an international return flight tickets on Flipkart for airline Go First which is costing me almost Rs.**k Due to a technical issue with Flipkart, I could not enter my full name as per passport records. When I inadvertently ...

Jan 19, 2023 by Srikanth Mallya

Money deduced but not received ticket confirmation neither getting refund (Yatra Online Private Limited) ^Closed

I was booking flight from Mumbai to Bhuvneshwar and Bhuvneshwar to Mumbai but amount has been deduced and but received ticket confirmation . Also not getting refund back my amount.. Upi reference is ************...

Jan 17, 2023 by Roshan kumar

Refund not credited (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) ^Closed

Hello sir mem i had book ticket from make my trip which i cancelled before ** hour flight DATE nov ** pnr tel aviv to rajkot PNR *GGGNQ name.pratap karabhai gorsera i contact them for refund but they are saying call to make maytrip and after th...

Jan 10, 2023 by Pratap gorsera

Fraud Company (Happyeasygo India Private Limited ) ^Closed

I booked a ticket on happyeasygo. Opted for free cancellation by paying extra amount. Now, when i'm trying to cancel the flight i'm not seeing any refund amount. Getting an option to proceed with cancellation with penalty charges....

Jan 08, 2023 by Sarthak Chhabda

Refund from Airline for cancellation on medical grounds (Make My Trip) ^Closed

Booked return air ticket to Bali, Indonesia for *th Oct **** and return to Bangalore, India on **th Oct ****. Booking number X****M, MMT Booking ID NN*XJI*GCAPF*C*B**** I was hospitalized on *st Oct. Requested cancellation on *nd Oct. Refund...

Dec 10, 2022 by Vishal Pawar

Flight tickets not issued after successful payment (Cleartrip) ^Closed

I have booked * flight tickets from Calicut to Pune through Cleartrip on **/**/****. I made payment through credit card and the payment wa completed. Upon completing the payment I received a message with a certain trip id and no confirmation of...

Dec 10, 2022 by Sooryanarayanan S

Refund plus interest (Indigo Airline ) ^Closed

Dear Sir/Madam, I booked a return flight Chandigarh-Delhi-Jabalpur on September **, **** with Indigo through Expedia (India) to start my journey on October **, ****. I paid Rs**,***.**. On September **, **** Indigo cancelled my flights. I app...

Dec 08, 2022 by Sukhdev Sumra

Refund payment (Amazon India) ^Closed

Amazon Contact no *****.***** Helpline Number.. Amazon Contact no *****.***** Helpline NumberIndibulls Amazon Contact no *****.***** Helpline Number.........

Oct 12, 2022 by Taju

MAKEMYTRIP CHECKIN DENIED (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) ^Closed

Booked hotel from **-** Oct**** at Hotel Neelkanth Bliss, Ahmedabad. hotel denied checkin and same has been confirmed by Makemytrip requested alternate equivalent property , but makemytrip providing degraded lower category hotel . ...

Oct 11, 2022 by Anurag singhal

Unable to reschedule flight (Easemytrip) ^Closed

I did as the customer care executive told me on the phone four times, I have tried rescheduling the flight through the app, website, after logging in as a guest user and logging in through my personal account too. But I wasn't able to because t...

Oct 08, 2022 by Kaveri Singh

Money not refunded for hotel booking after cancellation (Make my trip) ^Closed

I had a booking for a hotel in Bangkok for * nights(Grande Center Pointe Hotel-Ploenchit) oct*-*th **** for which initially the booking fee was only Rs* , as the last date to pay in full was approaching i attempted to make the entire balance ...

Oct 06, 2022 by Vimoha Bagla

Amount not refunded since 3 years No interest and demanding 15 to cancel (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) ^Closed

I have booked a family holiday to Europe in ****. It got cancelled due to Pandemic. Make my trip refused to give refund till October ****, after that they said they will deduct **% if we want to cancel, that is around ** thousand rupees. They g...

Sep 08, 2022 by Srinivasa Karasu

Refund not credit (INDIGOAIR ) ^Closed

KOLKATA TO BENGALURU/ flight no- (*E-***) payment deducted from my account on **/**/****(*:** am) Rs *****, Transaction id- YMBK**********. Cancel PNR No- ATJ**E ...

Sep 08, 2022 by MILAN SATPATI

Refund not processed (EaseMyTrip com) ^Closed

I had booked tickets from Easemytrip for Air India to travel from Moscow to Mumbai on ** July, **** and return on ** August. Air India stopped operating in Russia from April and since then I've been continuously contacting Easemytrip to initiat...

Aug 23, 2022 by Dimpy Singh

Spice Jet Airlines (Spice Jet Airlines) ^Closed

I have reschdule my flight from Delhi to Bangkok yesterday,the spicejet people deducted amount online and not giving money back . I have paid * times **** amount for rescheduling the one flight for today....

Jun 24, 2022 by Akansha Sharma

Not getting refund of my ticket for the cancelled flight (EaseMyTrip com) ^Closed

Booking ID - EMT********, PNR - E*I*JL flight booked from MAA To RDP. During pandemic time our flight was cancelled by the airlines and they told they have added the booking amount in credit shell. Now when I am going to use the credit shel...

Jun 22, 2022 by Priyotosh Mondal

Flight ticket cancellation refund (Yatra Com) ^Closed

I booked * flight tickets from Yatra.com of Indigo Airlines.. The same has been cancelled by my side due to emergency.. After deduction of cancellation charges as per policy, remaining amount has been sent to Yatra by Indigo.. But yatra denies ...

Jun 14, 2022 by Rajkumar Yadav

Flight Ticket delivered After the Flight takeoff (Agoda com) ^Closed

I Booked Flight Ticket on Agoda on *th June ****. After the Agoda Booking ID *********, I haven't received the airline confirmation and it shows Pending Airlines Confirmation. My Flight is *:** AM on *th June. and Got the Airline Confirmation ...

Jun 05, 2022 by Somasekhar Sanampuri