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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 *** airports and more than **** 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 **** was lost baggage. According to a recent survey, an average of * in *** people have their checked baggage lost or left behind every year. The other common airline complaint is flight delay. Apart from flight delay, consumer often face issues like promised refund not given, ticket cancelled, flight cancelled without prior knowledge, rude staff behaviour etc.
As per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines for flight delays, the Airlines should inform about flight delays promptly to the passengers with reasons. If a flight is delayed beyond *-* hours, airlines should offer compensation and assistance, which may include meals, refreshments, and accommodation. Also, the passengers should be given options for full refund or re-booking the next available flight. These guidelines regarding delay and cancellation, helps passengers to understand their rights. Hence it is possible to get flight delay compensation in India.
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.
Go Air has secured a spot in the list of best Airlines in India. It was founded in November **** by Jeh Wadia, an Indian industrialist. In October ****, it was India's fifth largest airline and had a considerable market share of *.*%. The airline is a fully-owned subsidiary of Wadia Group and started its operations in November ****. The airline operates *** daily flights to ** significant destinations, which have ** domestic and * international destinations. The airline has its hubs at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kannur, and Kolkata.
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 *** flights per week to ** Middle East and Southeast destinations. The airline has a fleet of aircraft ** Boeing ***-*** and carries approximately *.* million passengers every year.
Spice Jet is a low-cost airline having its headquarters in Gurugram, India. Initially, in **** it was established as air taxi provider ModiLuft and then later in ****, it was renamed Spice Jet by an Indian entrepreneur and started its operation in May ****. According to data in March ****, Spicejet was the second-largest airline in India and had **.*% of the market share in the number of passengers. Spicejet has a fleet of Boeing *** and Bombardier Dash * aircraft. It operates *** flights daily to ** destinations, which include * international and ** domestic destinations. Many flights are operated from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.
Indigo was founded in **** by Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal as a private company and had its headquarters in Gurugram. The airline had its first aircraft in July ****, and it started its operations in ****. By **** it became the largest Indian carrier, and in **** 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.
Air India is a very own national carrier of India and was founded by J.R.D. Tata as Tata Airlines in ****. 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 ** international and domestic destinations. Air India has two sister companies Air India Express and Alliance Air, which operates in India and Asian destinations.
Air Asia India started as a joint venture with AirAsia Berhad and Tata Sons. AirAsia Berhad has a **% stake, and Tata sons have the remaining **%. It started its operations on ** July **** from Bangalore and has a market share of *.*%. With a fleet of Airbus A ***-*** aircraft, it serves ** destinations.
Many thanks for your proactive approach and prompt action. This has accelerated and helped in resolving my issue.
- Mohd Abdulrahim
I got my refund. You guys have really helped me when I needed it the most! Thanks again for your help :-)
- Abhijit Dhote
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:
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.
In ****, 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.
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-** pandemic.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
All these airlines have a **** 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. - **** *** ****
GoAir Customer Care No. - **** *** ****
AirIndia Customer Care No. - **** *** ****
SpiceJet Customer Care No. - ****** *****
AirAsia Customer Care No. - *** **** ****
Vistara Customer Care No. - ****** *****
AirCosta Customer Care No. - ****-****-****
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.
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 *: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step *: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by lawyer.
Step *: Keep a copy of it for future purposes. Step *: Send the legal notice to Airlines by registered post.
Step *: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.
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 *: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step *: Draft the consumer complaint
Step *: Attach all the relevant documents and proofs to support your complaint.
Step *: Select the appropriate court for filing the complaint.
Step *: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step *: 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 ****s 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.
"Voxya has been instrumental in addressing my concern. I truly appreciate the prompt and effective assistance provided throughout the process. Will certainly recommend Voxya to others."
Ajay Masih
Complaint filed against: Byjus
