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
Flight cancellation refund not credited (Spicejet) Open
I cancelled my Spicejet Flight on **-Jun-****. After deduction of cancellation fee, the remaining amount has not been refunded to me for more than a month now and there is no response from customer service team as to when I shall get the refund...
Jul 16, 2022 by Dhivya Gandhirajan
Flight refund not received (Air India Airlines) Open
Apparently, I happened to book a flight ticket from London to Visakhapatnam to travel on January **, ****. On January **, **** I had to cancel my ticket because the flight was delayed by ** hours and I was told that i was eligible for full refu...
Jul 07, 2022 by Mohnish Maddala
Wrong instruction due to wrong update (Indigo) Open
We, mohammed mohisin aboobacker (pnr GK**KS) and khaleel ibrahim mohammed (pnr UHVC*L) booked tickets from manglore to jeddah via mumbai on * jun ****, When we approch to boading counter at mangalore , staff said we can not travel to jeddah du...
Jul 06, 2022 by mohammed muhsin aboobacker
Physical and mental harassment of indian senior citizens by british airways (British Airways) Open
Dear Sirs, I wish to state that my parents Mr. Purushottam Kumar aged ** years & Mrs. Kiran Bala aged ** years boarded from Delhi for Belfast via connecting British Airways flights with a stopover at London. The flight from Delhi to London wa...
Jul 04, 2022 by Amit
No tickets recieved amount deducted (Book My Show ) Open
I booked a ticket ,for which I never got a confirmation or anything including the ticket on either my number,email,I even checked my spam folder,I logged in to the acc thru the app & nothing up for resolving the issue,my full money wasted .I ta...
Jun 30, 2022 by Aditya Pandey
Lost of Baggage (Gulf Airlines) Open
Dear Baggage Department, This is to inform you of a situation where my bag has been misplaced for two days. Below are the details for your kind perusal- Passenger Name - Farid Ismail Khan Flight Gulf Air : Paris - Bahrain - Mumbai (final ...
Jun 25, 2022 by FARID KHAN
Flight ticket amount not refunded after cancellation (Travolook) Open
I booked a ticket on Travolook (www.travolook.in) website for my friend from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam on ** May ****. It was an emergency case, and my friend had to reach the destination by the night (same date). Approximately ** mins after t...
Jun 21, 2022 by Bharadwaj Dantu
Airline ticket cancellation refund (Cleartrip) Open
I booked a ticket (trip id : ************) using cleartrip website in February ****, but the airline cancelled it. I've been waiting for a reimbursement for the past three years. Please help to get the refund amount back....
Jun 21, 2022 by Wazid Ali
Missing baggage (Vistara Airlines) Open
Missing Baggage - Reference DELUK*****. Bag Tag Number BA******. NCL to LHR, LHR to Delhi on **th June Please Help...
Jun 17, 2022 by Anand Sao
Valuable items missing from checkin luggage from spicejet flight (SpiceJet airlines) Open
My name is Jigyasha Srivastava, Indian Passport holder based in Dubai, UAE. I landed in Delhi airport yesterday on **.**.** from Dubai via spice jet flight no.SG-**. After arrival, during the luggage collection, I came to know that my luggage w...
Jun 16, 2022 by Jigyasha Srivastava
Refund not processed by Makemytrip Group Booking Section (Make My Trip) Open
Hi Voxya, My name is Sri Sai Kolluru, A resident of Hyderabad On March *th **** -I have booked Air Asia flight via Makemytrip group booking as the number of people travelling are more than ** ( Total ** passengers). Journey was supposed to...
Jun 14, 2022 by Sri Sai Kolluru
Refund of cancelled Jet Airways flight tickets (Make my trip) Open
I have booked Jet Airways tickets from Make my Trip for * pax on *th Feb **** (Mumbai - Singapore - Mumbai, travel dates - **th May **** - **th May ****). MMT confirmation number - NN*************. MMT followed up for refund for a year post can...
Jun 12, 2022 by SAURABH GUPTA
False Airline cancellation charges collected by Trip com (Trip Com) Open
Please find the complaint details, below mentioned was the request sent to TRIP.com on *nd June. regarding cancellation of flight due to medical reason. Dear Team, Good evening, As discussed on over phone yesterday, I wanted to share my...
Jun 08, 2022 by Bharati singh
Flight booking for approx Rs was not confirmed due to server issues but money was transferred (SPICEJET LIMITED) Open
I am a student of NIT Silchar, who had booked * flight tickets against flight number SG **** on **/**/** from Silchar to Guwahati for a sum of Rs. ***** via MakeMyTrip, due to the prevailing floods in Assam. However, upon making the payment, I ...
Jun 07, 2022 by Nrittik Sarmah
Job offer for ground staff executive at Kochi international airport (air asia airlines) Open
I have received a call from unknown person that I am shortlisted for interview for position in Air Asia, and then ask me to have the certain documents like Degree, Work experience, Resume, etc. After then they share me detail on my mail id. ...
Jun 05, 2022 by Chandana shaji
Hotel did not accept Makemytrip Booking (MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd ) Open
I had make booking in Cassiopeia - An Ecorganic Boutique Farmstay, Kodanad, Tamil Nadu through MakeMyTrip for * day Stay **th May **** to **th May **** for Rs. *****/- through credit card for my family including * kids. I had received booking c...
Jun 04, 2022 by Sridharan
Refund not received (Travolook) Open
ticket not booked on dated **-**-****, still waiting for refund ...
Jun 02, 2022 by Ashutosh Singh
My Cancelled air ticket refund is not being processed (Travolook www travolook in) Open
I booked ticket through (www.travolook.in) and ticket amount was deducted from my credit card. After sometime I got message that my ticket was not confirmed due to ticket price expiration and my ticket amount will be refunded with in *-** days....
Jun 02, 2022 by Himanshu Shukla
Travolook has not yet issued my refund after ten months (Travolook Www Travolook In) Open
I have booked my air tickets from Travolook for **th August ****(INR **, ***.**) and **th August ****(INR *, ***.**) with reference no: REF********* and REF*********. Both tickets were canceled by the airline. It has been almost ** months an...
Jun 02, 2022 by Rohit Kumar
Refund not issued even after 2 years (Happyeasygo India Private Limited ) Open
I have been requesting a claim for refund for tickets booked in ****, which has already been refunded by the airline to the agent. But HappyEasyGo has not refunded the amount yet and is giving excuses every time I contact them...
Jun 01, 2022 by Siddharth Shivram
Full refund not initiated (ixigo app) Closed
I had booked a flight:I****,PNR: NVMYGS on ixigo from Ranchi-Delhi which has been cancelled by Air Asia itself. So I should get the full refund. But the refund has been initiated only for Rs *,***/- instead of Rs **,***/- though I had ta...
Aug 27, 2020 by AMBER SINGH
Refund of flight tickets (Vistara Airlines) Closed
We had done booking thru MAKEMYTRIP APP for * tickets to Sri Lanka on ** th March **** and return **nd March **** WHICH we cancelled due to lockdown and we have called MMT very many times and have not got ANY response regards our refund...
Aug 26, 2020 by Mrs Babita Fernandes
Refund not given (Air India) Closed
I have not got refund for my Ticket cancelled. Ticket details, Travel Date **/**/**** Etkt No: ***-********** First Name : Naba Kumar; Last name : Chakrabarty. Flight Number: Kolkata To Mumbai AI***; Mumbai To Abu Dhabi AI***....
Aug 26, 2020 by Naba Kumar Chakrabarty
No refund or re book for flight tickets booked through Goibibo (Goibibo website) Closed
I have booked an international flight from bengaluru to london return travel dates ** April ****, ** April ****. Due to covid all the international flights have been cancelled and i initiated a refund option which i received a response to indic...
Aug 25, 2020 by Bapatal venkata radha krishna murthy
Not processing refund (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I cancelled the flight ticket scheduled on **th March **** from easemytrip.com. I talked to the airline 'Vistara' to process the refund of my airline. They agreed to refund the airline charges and provided me with a reference number and get the...
Aug 25, 2020 by Sandeep Singh
Due to Covid19 My flight got cancelled and yatra not providing refund for PNR Number (Yatra.com) Closed
*. Yatra.com customer service is poor. They are not attending emails/calls *. I initiated the refund process * week before no response from them *. Every time when I check the refund status, I get the ready-made answer as below The refund pr...
Aug 25, 2020 by Karthik VV
I have booked a flight from Rome To Tirupati through Goibibo. Than due to covid the flight has been cancelled by airline than they issued refund for all the passengers but in my cases they have issued refund to goibibo but goibibo did not pay m...
Aug 25, 2020 by Akhip chowdary
No Refund since 5 months (Yatra com) Closed
I have booked holiday package in March but due to COVID ** conditions I asked for cancelation but they postponed my package for ** days then again I asked for cancelation but since from March to **th August till date there no response from yatr...
Aug 25, 2020 by Amit Upadhyay
Refund of Air ticker fare (Happyfares in) Closed
I was booked air ticket from Delhi to Srinagar and after confirmation last time ticket was cancelled by happyfares and also charges ₹ *** by me. Please sorted out my complain. ...
Aug 24, 2020 by Pradeep Kumar
Cancelled flight cost not yet refunded (Air india) Closed
Air INDIA not yet refunded the money for canceled booking(July **th, ****) & canceled flight( Jun**th ****). Both reservations are booked via Air India mobile app only. I have contacted Air INDIA via their customer care and social media as wel...
Aug 22, 2020 by SANA SRINIVAS
Airlines Ticket Refund not received (Go Air Airlines) Closed
I had booked return international flight tickets from go air but flights were cancelled due to covid-**. I was assured by Goair multiple times in April that I can reschedule my flight anytime within a year from date of travel & can book on dom...
Aug 22, 2020 by Niraj Pathak
Non refund if cancelled tickets (Air India) Closed
Dear Sir *. I had booked a ticket for myself on ** Feb ** with PNR No J**H* and ticket No ************* and subsequently cancelled it due to travel date wrongly filled. *. The cancellation was confirmed to me by the customer care executive ...
Aug 22, 2020 by Rajinder Singh
Refund not received (Goibibo airlines Indigo Airlines) Closed
I had booked * return tickets from goa to Malaysia in March ** booking id Golfiandecdfe********** , haven't got my full refund yet ,...
Aug 18, 2020 by Dinesh Motilal Nichani
Yesterday i book 3 ticket in Air Asia from Guwahati to Pune reference no my money immediately it s (Air Asia Travels ) Closed
Cencell off fligh form your site...
Aug 17, 2020 by Joy Kumar Deka
Money is not refunding (Cleartrip) Closed
I booked Indigo flight ticket in cleartrip.com on *-Jan-**** for my family, for the travel date *-Apr-**** from Cochin to Goa. The PNR was ------- with cleartrip id ----------. The flight numbers were *E-*** and *E-***. The amount paid was arou...
Aug 17, 2020 by Praveenkumar M R
Flight cancelled yet no refund from 14 months (Goibibo) Closed
I booked a business class ticket from mumbai to london on Egypt air from goibibo On **st june ****, When I reached the airport my flight got cancelled and they stamped my ticket for full refund, and i booked another flight from airport to fly. ...
Aug 17, 2020 by Kapil arora
Refund not processed (Yatra) Closed
Regarding the PNR : OP*G*U // Booking Reference Number : ************.(Booked from Yatra.com) Passengers : Amit Tiwari and Deepak Jha Bangalore-Patna Flight Route Issue : I contacted Indigo Helpdesk on Thursday(**th August ****) and...
Aug 17, 2020 by Deepak Jha
Airline refund (Etihad Airways) Closed
My booking ref is FSNTOQ, booked in Etihad airways from Yatra. When airlines got cancelled due to covid **, airlines are denying to give me refund and just want to change ravel date instead.Due to this i was unable to board the present ongoing ...
Aug 17, 2020 by Dinesh Reddy .R
Refund not processed (Air India) Closed
I have bought AirIndia ticket (travel date : **-Mar-****) but due to Covid-** I had cancel this ticket. Since then I'm following up with AirIndia for refund but still it's not done. In recent communication from them I got an update that amount...
Aug 16, 2020 by Amit Shyam Rohra
Refund not credited to my account (Udchalo) Closed
I made a booking through Udchalo From Delhi to Trivandrum via Bangalore. PNR is DJD**G. Due to some service work, I had to change my travel date. For this I called Udchalo but there was no response. So I called to Indigo customer care. The char...
Aug 16, 2020 by Vineet Singh
"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