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
Complaints
Refund not received since july (HAPPYEASY GO) Open
I had booked my flight tickets for *th August **** from Bangalore to Kolkata.My flight was rescheduled by spice jet and due to inconvenience of the rescheduled flights spice jet gave me the option to cancel the flights without any charges and I...
Oct 30, 2022 by Debattam
Refund not received (Malindo Air) Open
The company is not refunding a ticket from BLR to KUL as per the fare policy. The fare rules has a section which says refund of ticket can be done with **** penalty if the visa is getting rejected. But when applied for refund after cancelling t...
Oct 28, 2022 by abhijit mohapatra
Missing of gold ornaments from checkin luggage (Indigo) Open
I travelled on **st by Indigo airlines from Bangalore to Bangkok, from my checkin luggage my * chains, * bangle, *set of earing are missing . PNR NUMBER IS : IKMLKV...
Oct 27, 2022 by Flavia moras
Ticket (Lufthansa Airline ) Open
booked air ticket from lufthansa airline for birmingham and there was * hours stay in germany .it was not mentioned in portal that i need germany visa as i had a uk tourist visa and I just want to go to uk only.I did not want to go germany.When...
Oct 23, 2022 by Manish kumar Garg
Refund Not Received (Agoda and OYO) Open
I booked a hotel for **th to **th sep **** using Agoda app. The refused to provide room at the price i had booked. So i called the customer care & requested for cancellation. I got a mail regarding booking cancellation & it was stated over ther...
Oct 19, 2022 by Nirmalya Hota
Airfare Refund (Airindia) Open
I have booked Airindia Flight ticket through AI website and cancelled the Ticket in the month of APril ****, till date I have not received the refund back to me. I have been contacting and hear only -" concerned department is working on it ". ...
Oct 19, 2022 by Chandrasekhar Reddy
Refund against the train ticket (Make my trip) Open
I had booked train tickets from Makemytrip, but the train got cancelled by IRCTC, immediately I got a message on my whats up from Makemytrip that "your train has been cancelled by the Indian railway, Please do not cancel your ticket if your tra...
Oct 17, 2022 by Ashish Kumar
Refund is not credit (Goibibo.com) Open
Dear Sir My Train ticket booking failed on ** September. Successful amount deduction in my Account of Rs. *** only through UPI. Transaction I'd is UPI/DR/************/HDFC/goibiboupi/ Payment ***.** Goibibo aap show ur refund...
Oct 16, 2022 by Sachin Kumar
Extra money taken (Make my trip) Open
I Sahil Virmani (MMT BLACK Elite member of MMT) with booking ID NL************* for package booking from Delhi to Maldives for period *-days & *-Night starting from **th Oct** to **th Oct**. Along with my wife Boski Malik for my “*st Marriage...
Oct 16, 2022 by Sahil virmani
Refund not credited for flight tickets booked in march 2021 (Happyeasygo) Open
I want want to lodge a complaint against this company which provides services of flight tickets online the company name is HappyEasyGo.com. In the month of March last year **** i booked several flight tickets. So the details of the disputed fli...
Oct 15, 2022 by Akash Sahu
Refund (Hamsafar Trip) Open
On **th May ****, We Had A Call With Hamsafartrip, A Travel Company, To Book A Trip From **th May To For South Hills ** Days. As Per The Call And Emails, The Company Asked Me To Pay Rs ****/- In Advance. So, I Made An Advance Payment Of ****+**...
Oct 14, 2022 by Sayali Kishor Patil
HOTEL RESERVATION FRAUD (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) Open
On my recent trip to Maldives I booked a hotel Sheraton Full Moon Maldives for the date of **th Sep **** to *st Oct ****. I did my booking via Make My Trip . com but as it seems MMT did not make direct booking to Sheraton Maldives themselves an...
Oct 13, 2022 by Jay Purohit
GOIBIBO HOTEL CHECKIN DENIED (Goibibo) Open
Hotel neelkanth bliss denied checkin. Confirmed by GOIBIBO. No alternate provided till date . Complaint raised on ** Oct ****. Multiple calls and emails with no action. Booked ** days in advance at approx *k per night and gobibo offering h...
Oct 13, 2022 by Anurag singhal
Make My trip faulty hotel booking (Make my trip) Open
The hotel booking for Ramada Alleppey - Holidays Collection is not confirmed by the hotel. Payment is already done. Now Make My Trip representatives are not responding. Complaint has been raised * days back. Reference No. *****************. The...
Oct 12, 2022 by SADANAND BHANDARKAR
Refund of International Flight ticket not being given (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Open
I was supposed to travel to the USA on the */July/**** to meet my **yr old daughter. I have a US Business visa B*/B*. When I made the booking with the portal makemytrip.com on a call, I was asked what kind of Visa I have and I mentioned the sam...
Oct 12, 2022 by Samita Nag
Full refund not credited even after 9 months (Travolook (Www.travolook.in)) Open
I had booked a flight on */*/**, but soon after money got debited i received a mail saying that the ticket is not available due to fare expiration and the refund will be credited by ** days but even after * months i haven't received complete re...
Oct 11, 2022 by HARSHAVARDHANA MANJUNATH
Refund for cancelled booking (Make my trip) Open
I had booked a Make My Trip flight (from Amritsar to Manila via Singapore) for travel on **th October ****. Flight details as under: TR*** Amritsar to Singapore on **th October **.** to **st October *.** am TR*** Singapore to Manila on *...
Oct 11, 2022 by Ajay Chawla
Baggage Missing (Spicejet) Open
I travelled from Spicejet Flight SG *** from Riyadh to Delhi on **th September through PNR : OYWSKP and did not receive my luggage in Delhi . Complaint has been raised but after * days still no update when i will get my bag ....
Oct 07, 2022 by Amandeep Singh Sobti
Airline cancelled the flight refund not processed by HEG (Happy Easy Go) Open
I booked an Indigo flight from PNQ-KUL on Happy Easy Go (HEG). Within a week the airline cancelled the flight and processed my refund instantly. It has been over * month that this happened but HEG has not processed my refund saying it's pending...
Oct 06, 2022 by Bharat R
Refund Due (Travolook) Open
I bought * flight tickets business class from travolook online via website and on july **th cancelled. ******/- is due since july ****. ...
Oct 03, 2022 by Monalisa Ghosh
No refund against failed booking at makemytrip com (Makemytrip.com) Closed
I booked tickets but transaction failed and only booking number is available as NF**************. No PNR and no ticket no issued as it is still showing failed. makemytrip only refunded seat booking charges. I tried all means but not able to con...
Feb 18, 2021 by Rajeev Bhooshan Gupta
Refund amount not paid (Yatra Online Pvt Ltd) Closed
Yatra Booking reference no. ************* Flight PNR : RXABWZ I had booked flight from Delhi to Port Blair and return flight. As the flight was rescheduled by airline VISTARA, and I do not wish to travel with rescheduled flight therefore the ...
Feb 15, 2021 by Saurabh Kumar singh
Yatra payment successful Rs but no booking confirmed (Yatra.com) Closed
I have a yatra account. I was making the attached booking for a flight from Chandigarh to Goa and twice the payment was made (money was deducted from my account) but the booking was not confirmed. The first time I paid by upi id and althou...
Feb 13, 2021 by Abhilasha
Refund not received and reversed to yatra axis bank account of Rs 1883 (Yatra.com) Closed
Please find the attached my bank confirmation email for your reference. Booking ID : ************* Refund Amount of Rs.**** My bank representative called me today and confirmed that Yatra.com Processed Refund Amount for Rs.**** dated.**...
Feb 10, 2021 by VISHAL PARMAR
Refund not received from AirIndia after several months (Airindia) Closed
Hi, I'm contacting you regarding an issue with the refund for the flight which was cancelled for the **th of September from London to Kochi. When I contacted airindia customer care, I was told that the refund was processed on **th of December *...
Feb 10, 2021 by Lorraine Dalmeida
Yatra Resorting to Fraud Method to Avoid Giving Refund (Yatra Com) Closed
I Had Booked Two Round Trip Flight Tickets From Chennai To Paris On January **th, **** With Yatra. As The Travel Couldn't Take Place Due To COVID Restrictions, The Airline (Oman Air) Decided To Provide Refund Without Penalty After ** Months Of ...
Feb 09, 2021 by Avijeet Kumar Biswas
No refund received even after more than 2 months (Yatra) Closed
I have cancelled two tickets from yatra in the month of november but yatra.com is behaving like a bunch of cheaters. No customer care number, no customer support. Airline is saying yatra has not raised even refund request with the till today i....
Feb 06, 2021 by Davinder
Refund Not Received (Yatra.com) Closed
I have paid for Rs.**** to Yatra.com through Online on dated.**-**-**** via Reference No. ************ for Hotel Booking and Hotel Booking ID. ************* and after this hotel Booking Cancelled on dated.**-**-****. Refund Amount for Rs.***...
Feb 06, 2021 by VISHAL PARMAR
Make my trip Flight refund issue for cancelled ticket (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Closed
I had a booking through MMT (MakeMyTrip). As the flight was re-scheduled, I had to cancel my booking with Spicejet directly on *st Jan ****. They had initiated the refund and it was credited to MakeMyTrip immediately (As confirmed by Spicejet)....
Feb 05, 2021 by Renju Koshy
Booking rejected but refund has not been received (Easemytrip) Closed
I had booked my Lucknow-Goa-Lucknow on **th January ****. The booking got rejected and according to EaseMyTrip, it seems they have processed the refund amount to my account. However, it has been a long time and I have not received my refund. Ho...
Feb 05, 2021 by Debayan Das
Air India Refund Not Received Since 8 Months (Air india) Closed
The Request For Refund Of My Cancelled Ticket From Chennai To Kuwait PNR No. YLWXS, Eticket No. ************* & ************* Of Amount INR *****/-, Cancelled On **.**.**** Has Been Pending Since * Months Now With Email Acknowledgement From Air...
Feb 03, 2021 by AMEESHA SHAJAHAN
No Refund to Bank from Yatra (Yatra Com) Closed
I had booked two round trip flight tickets from Chennai to Paris on January **th, **** with Yatra. As the travel couldn't take place due to COVID restrictions, the Airline (Oman Air) decided to provide refund without penalty after ** months of ...
Feb 02, 2021 by Avijeet Kumar Biswas
Boarding Refusal by IndiGo (Indigo Airline ) Closed
We were not allowed to board the flight at Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur by IndiGo Staff, inspite of having all valid Travel Documents for flying to Dubai. Reason that our Negative RT-PCR certificate is expiring by the time we reach Dubai ...
Jan 23, 2021 by V SRIVATSAN
Goibibo Refund not received yet (Goibibo) Closed
I had booked a Hotel for my trip in May'****. However, due to COVID, I had to cancel my trip. Post cancellation the amount of **,*** was credited to my GoCash account. Post that I have been trying to get my refund to my bank account for the las...
Jan 21, 2021 by Jaimeen Trivedi
Air ticket not refunded (Air India Airlines) Closed
I purchased * separate tickets from AirIndia on **-Feb-**** for my family's journey from Qatar to Patna via Delhi. The tickets were scheduled for **st March and *st April. Owing to coronavirus outbreak leading to lockdown, the international fli...
Jan 12, 2021 by ALI FAISAL RAZA
No refund credited to mmt wallet or bank (Makemy Trip) Closed
Hello team, Thanks for your email and support. It's been ** days since you credited refund to Makemytrip but the issue io am facing is I am not able to contact their customer service, ( i just contacted once after your email that I should ta...
Jan 12, 2021 by Paramjit Singh Rana
Over charged for cabin bag (Indigo) Closed
I flew Indigo on *th jan ****.(PNR - ARDJWB, Flight- *E****). I had one checkin luggage and one carry on bag. I live in the USA and am here to visit my family, I landed in new delhi on *rd Jan **** and then took indigo as my domestic flight for...
Jan 07, 2021 by Prachi Kushwaha
Flight booking amount deducted without booking and no refund received (Travolook) Closed
On booking I had received a mail saying 'Your booking is Cancelled due to fare expiration. Please contact our customer support at ****-***-**** or send us an email at support@travolook.in and one of our travel expert will be pleased to assist y...
Dec 30, 2020 by Amanjeet Singh Oberoi
Refund of air tickets for the Covid 19 (GoAir Airline) Closed
As per goverment regulations, all flights booked during the covid lockdown period cancelled by the air operator must be refunded at no cost to customer by this year end. However i have not got any refund till date for my PNR number : B*MTVI ...
Dec 27, 2020 by Somesh Sharma
Flight cancellation (Goibbio Group) Closed
Dear Sir / Madam, I am writing to you to raise an issue about: Flights The issue that I have experienced was: PNR : SFKKQZ Booking id: GOFLIMTANDBA**E********* I book my ticket on **th December **** and c...
Dec 23, 2020 by Shaik mohammed azam
"I was unable to get in touch with anyone in Byjus nor with my counselor regarding my problem for 3 months. But Voxya team helped me solve my issue very soon. Thank you!"
Mamta D
Complaint filed against: Byju's