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 last 2 months (Cleartrip) Open
The company told me that the refund was provided on *th July, ****. I kept taking follow up a gazillion times and they kept insisting me to check with the bank as the bank had provided the ARN number, and ClearTrip kept refusing me to provide a...
Aug 24, 2022 by Jay Shah
Air India denied boarding (Air India Ease My Trip) Open
Hello Air India, I travelled from Paris to Chennai through Delhi. The booking code is NKB*LY. The flight number is AI *** from Paris to Delhi and AI *** from Delhi to Chennai. The flight left from Paris at **:** and reached Delhi at *...
Aug 23, 2022 by Jayanth
Refund not remitted (Aakash Jajoo Flight Ticket Agent) Open
I intended to purchase a flight ticket from Mumbai to Boston. Agent Aakash Jajoo had been recommended to me by a friend Mr. Suraj Ingle (**********). ++++ When I called Akash Jajoo for Air ticket he requested me to choose my flight and the...
Aug 22, 2022 by Varsha Seshashayee Hindupur
Indigo flight cancellation at the last moment resulting into huge loss (Indigo) Open
I booked a ticket to chennai from Hyderabad on *rd July (travel date) , early morning flight, and flight got cancelled and I was intimated *-* hrs before. My flight got cancelled at a very short notice, beacause of which I missed a very importa...
Aug 20, 2022 by Surya kant Trivedi
NOT GETTING MY REFUND (Travolook) Open
I booked a flight on September **** from travolook and suddenly I got an email from their side stating that the flight ticket is cancelled and I will be getting a refund in **-** business day. Now it has been almost a year and I still didn't go...
Aug 19, 2022 by Nishesh choudhary
Flight Ticket Refund (Travolook) Open
I booked my flight tickets from Lko to hyderabad on ** July ** through Travolook but I received a call from the company that my ticket booking was not successful but my amount of Rs **** was deducted from my account. I am calling customer ca...
Aug 17, 2022 by Akash Srivastava
Refund (Singapore Airlines) Open
myself with family went for a vacation to Singapore by Singapore airlines SQ*** on *th Aug after verification of all visa, SGA,fully vaccination certificate etc. my son was not permitted to clear the immigration due to non acceptance of dose co...
Aug 12, 2022 by Arabindo sahu
Refund of flight booking (Travolook) Open
It's been a month since my ticket booking and the refund is not yet initiated from your end. My patience is crossing its limits and I would like the amount to be refunded as soon as possible. Kindly return my refund. ...
Aug 11, 2022 by Shrey Sai
Fraud by travel agent (Tempo traveller India) Open
I booked a traveller and paid an advance of ₹**** to mr rahul who sent me a receipt thereafter. But he didn’t send a traveller on the day of departure and we were helpless and couldn’t find a traveller easily at such a short period. Now w...
Aug 10, 2022 by Varun Kathuria
Refund not issued (Air India) Open
Had booked a ticket with Air India for flight from Delhi to Hong Kong, travel date Jan **, ****. The flight was cancelled last minute by Air India and the text messages from Air India prompted to call the customer and ask for refund. I duly cal...
Aug 09, 2022 by Anurag
Travolook Refund not done postponing more than 45 days (Travolook Www Travolook In) Open
I have not received my refund. its been **+ days now. Its **** rs and I have paid through credit card. Customer care told me that refund got cancelled and they have done the process again and wait for * to ** more days ever time. Till now, they...
Aug 09, 2022 by Syam
Wrong flight booked because of technical error (Agoda and IndiGo ) Open
I booked my flight from Lucknow India to Delhi India on * August **** and I booked for **th of August at *:** AM and when I booked my flight it was *:** AM flight but i got confirmation for *:** PM flight in the same airline from #Lucknow India...
Aug 09, 2022 by Priyanshu
Travolook is a fraud company (TRAVOLOOK.IN) Open
Booked a ticket on July **,****. Travolook.in cancelled my ticket citing operational issues. Till date have not recieved the refund for the same even after numerous calls and emails. The customer care people repeat lines like a parrot without a...
Aug 06, 2022 by Prathik Gupta
Refund not receive (Goibibo) Open
Even after ** days my refund was not transferred to my bank account ...
Jul 27, 2022 by Preejoy Islary
Refund Not Issued (Happy Easy Go) Open
I have booked a ticket from Happyeasygo and then within half an hour I saw some mistake in date and called Airline Indigo. Airline actually canceled the ticket did full refund. I got message from Airline as well as in the status in the website ...
Jul 26, 2022 by Sourabh Akash
Start India Holiday Not providing refund and no response to calls mails (Star India Holiday) Open
We took a package of * nite/*days from star India Holidays in March ****. Due to Covid these packages were put on hold. Later there was no response for calls/mails and neither any refund was provided. Our payment id is SIH**AS...
Jul 25, 2022 by Anita Anil Khatri
INDIGO UNILATERALLY CHANGES FLIGHT TIME JEOPARDISING MY FAMILY SAFETY (Indigo) Open
I BOOKED INDIGO FLIGHT FROM CHANDIGARH TO MANGALORE KEEPING I VIEW THE TIME. AS I DIDNT WANT TO B LATE AS MY HOTEL IS * HOURS FROM MANAGALORE AIRPORT. INDIGO TODAY SENT A SMS THAT THEY HAVE RESCHEDULED THE FLIGHT BY * HOUR FOR NO REASON. I CALL...
Jul 24, 2022 by Rajiv Sharma
Deducted the money but did not book my ticket (Budgetair.in) Open
I had booked ticket for my family from Mumbai to Singapore for * persons ie * Adults and * Children, they took the money from me but did not book my tickets.How can you deduct money from someone without giving a booking?...
Jul 22, 2022 by Sufiyan Abdul Razak Memon
Pending partial refund (Make My Trip) Open
I purchased flight ticket on **th May **** for my family to travel from Jeddah to Kozhikode on ** June **** for an amount of INR **,*** (SAR *,***.** deducted from my account equivalent to the same amount). On **th May ****, I received a messag...
Jul 21, 2022 by Muhammed Absheer
Tickets automatically cancelled and got 40 refunded amount (Travolook) Open
I booked tickets from travolook via online on **.**.**. Amounting to ₹****/-. reference no : REF*********. it automatically got cancelled and i got refunded ₹****/- on **.**.** after so many complains. The total amount of loss is ₹****/-...
Jul 16, 2022 by Somy tantia
Refund of cancelled flight due to COVID (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked flight (Indigo) which was cancelled due to COVID through yatra. Indigo has return amount to yatra on **th august. they have not informed. i have contacted through mail and application of yatra. they are again and again closing the...
Oct 01, 2020 by Dheeraj Patel
No getting a Ticket Refund (Air India) Closed
I booked Air India flight for **th July **** from Delhi to Sharjah. But flight got cancelled by air india itself. After that next day i made a request and sent emails to air india for full refund.Now its October month is going to start but stil...
Sep 30, 2020 by Rahul Hans
Refund not provided (Spicejet) Closed
PNR - A*R*KS cancelled without any prior notice - No Refund has been initiated by spicejet. I had a flight booking from Hyderabad to Jaipur and vice versa. But flight. Cancelled by spicejet....
Sep 30, 2020 by Kishore Kumar Kasi
Refund of ticket booked during covid lockfowm (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked two tickets gor total * peoples bit die to covid lockdown flights got cancellled .As instruction from avaition ministry booking in lockdown time is fully refundable but it is regret to say that even after * months i dimt get money...
Sep 25, 2020 by Krishna chandra rai
Complete refund not processed (Goibibo airlines) Closed
I have booked my ticket through GOIBIBO (PNR/Booking Ref.: VQ*N*R Indigo Flight). My travel date is in April **** which falls between the lockdown period, I had asked Goibibo to cancel the ticket and refund me the amount they have return af...
Sep 23, 2020 by vinod sharma
Refund not given (Spice Jet Airlines) Closed
Hi everyone I want share a experience of MMT as well Spicejet both are not ready refund my money i booked a ticket before lock down. Flight was cancelled due to covid. I complain several times to MMT and Spicejet but they are not bother about ...
Sep 22, 2020 by Pawankumar Dubey
Cash Stolen From Luggage (Air India Airlines) Closed
on ** september **** I travelled from New delhi to Patna, from flight No. AI **** . My PNR is YQ**X. I deposited my suitcase , the slip no. is AI******, **********. There was cash of Rs.******.** but when i reached patna and I checked my sui...
Sep 21, 2020 by Pawan Kumar Kholla
IRCTC Air Refund (IRCTC flights) Closed
I was booking a ticket from Varanasi to Kolkata on *-Sep-**** and payment got deducted but end of the booking web page get stopped and waited for several minutes. When i re-logon to the IRCTC flight accounts and checked the ticket status it was...
Sep 21, 2020 by Amit Kumar
Air India not refunding or reboking 4 tickets (Air india) Closed
I had booked * tickets by travel agent with Air india for dates earlier this year, from BOM to FRA. Due to corona, these tickets were unable to be used, and Air India put out an official waiver stating the following 'All tickets irresp...
Sep 16, 2020 by Niels Cremer
Flight cancellation not informed and refund is not processed (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Closed
I book a flight from Osaka to Bengaluru on **.**.**** through Makemytrip website in Airasia airlines which costs INR *****. Unfortunately, flight got canceled by airlines and this was not informed well in advance.I realized this flight cancella...
Sep 15, 2020 by Godine Raja Sekhar
Non refund of Air ticket canceled by Goibibo (Goibibo airlines) Closed
Fighting against refund of canceled ticket by airline- Ref booking:MYSMF*********. Airline PNR : VLLH*O. They promised that we will recieve the refund amount in August however now there is no response, their customer service is no longer in u...
Sep 11, 2020 by Debhoraah Ravi
Ticket not refunded (Easemytrip.com) Closed
On **th March Goair cancelled the sector Bom-Del and refunded in Full to Easemytrip. Whenever I followed up with Easemytrip for refund, they said they have not recd refund from Airline. Airlines confirmed that they paid back to Easemytrip on **...
Sep 07, 2020 by Anurag Gupta
Irctc air ticket not booked money deducted (Irctc Air) Closed
Hello I booked tickets on IRCTC Air app on *sep from Hyderabad to ahemdabad it's showing reservation failed but no response form IRCTC about refund please help to get refund Transaction ID :**********...
Sep 06, 2020 by omprakash jogdankar
GoAir got giving refund for flight cancellation (GoAir Airline) Closed
I had booked a goair flight through yatra.com One day before without any intimation flight got cancelled. I had to book another flight at last moment with double the price. I am not able to connect either yatra or goair. I applied online cance...
Sep 05, 2020 by Harinam Prasad
Refund for Cancelled Flight Booking (Make My Trip) Closed
I have booked a flight through Makemytrip (Indigo Airline) booking id NF************** using reschedule option of one of my indigo credit shell(differences amount paid through credit card). Due to Covid **, my flight got cancelled and I request...
Sep 03, 2020 by Sanchit Pandey
Refund not initiated (T) Closed
I had cancelled my ticket on *nd February **** against the booking reference :UF*D*E which is for T J Johny which was for my father and till date I have not got my return amount .*st when I being his daughter I paid through my card for * ticket...
Sep 03, 2020 by Christina Johny
Not able to reschedule flight even though paid for flexifly (CLEARTRIP COM) Closed
I booked a flight on cleartrip.com for *rd September **** and paid for flexifly (which means i can reschedule my flight without paying extra money) but am not able to reschedule it nor even cancel it. The number for contacting them provided on ...
Sep 02, 2020 by Avi Dutta
Not getting refund (Make My Trip Gurugram Haryana ) Closed
I have paid rs ***** as a initial amount on **th January **** to makemytrip for euro trip which got cancelled due to covid **.now when I am asking for refund they are telling refund is not possible according to cancellation policy..now my quest...
Sep 01, 2020 by Somesh Sarangi
Goibibo Not Refund HYD to Delhi to Dharamsala (Goibibo) Closed
Still Company have not refunded my money . Flight cancelled during Lock down and Goibibo still not give me any information of my money. I want my money in my account. ...
Aug 31, 2020 by Diwakar
Airlines cancel my ticket goibibo not replying (Goibibo) Closed
My flight with PNR : QL*I** was cancelled by Turkish airline for *th September to Berlin, I contacted Turkish airline and they said they can only reschedule the flight from goibibo, after giving my all efforts on Twitter Facebook and other port...
Aug 29, 2020 by Nasir Imam
"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