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 (Wings in travel) Open
I had booked ticket on travolook website. Amount was debited and but the booking was not confirmed. After some time I received call that booking is cancelled due to technical issue and i will receive full refund. Its been around * months. I hav...
Apr 05, 2022 by Harsh Goyal
Lost money due to Flipkart travel negligence (Flipkart travel) Open
I booked a flight with Booking Id: FF************** and PNR no. *UZY*M which was on *th feb **** New Delhi to Manchester and return flight was on **th feb **** Manchester to New Delhi. Due to some unseen circumstances, I wasn't able to travel a...
Apr 05, 2022 by Anirudh Sharma
Travel ticket refuns (Travolok) Open
Booked ticket from Travolok on ** Feb and they immediately cancelled it. Haven't recieved the refund till now. Customer care will not let me talk to the manager and keeps giving scripted replies ...
Apr 04, 2022 by Aryan Kapoor
Poor service for my wife on AI 537 (Air India) Open
My wife a stroke patient was on AI *** on March **, in the landed plane; waited for * hour and ** minutes for. a wheel chair. Then she was put in a wheel chair and lifted by contractors down the ramp- feet up, head down, her brain froze on the ...
Mar 25, 2022 by Sethuraman Vaithiyanathan
Refund relted (Travolook) Open
I booked a ticket (REF NO. REF*********) *nd march ****, but they didn't confirm the ticket and amont was deducted from my card. after contacting they said it will take *-** working days in processing the refund, its already **th of march, i tr...
Mar 24, 2022 by Prakash kumar pathak
Amount not refunded by Happyeasy go for the journey cancelled by indigo (Happy Easy Go) Open
This is regarding my travel from Mumbai to Delhi on ** Jan ****. The total amount for * passenger was INR ****. The flight was cancelled by Indigo due to operational issues. Subsequently, I decided to postpone the flight for one passenger (Ka...
Mar 22, 2022 by Ravichandran PradeepKumar
Refund International travel (PayTM) Open
Booking Date : **/*/**** Travel Date : **/*/**** Paytm Booking ID : *********** Travelling From : Bangalore To Australia (Dallas ) I Have Booked A Flight On **/*/**** From Bengaluru To Dallas - Booking ID :***********. From PAYTH.COM Whic...
Mar 21, 2022 by Anil Kumar.M
Ticket booked and cancelled simultaneously due to hike in rate (Travolook) Open
On **.**.**** booked a ticket from Amritsar to Mumbai in the name of my son Harvinder Singh Amar. For it an amount of Rs.**** was remitted through HDFC Bank Credit Card. After taking detail IO was informed that rates of the flight has been hike...
Mar 09, 2022 by MANJIT SINGH AMAR
Flight Ticket Not Rescheduled (Cleartrip) Open
I had initially book a return trip from Toronot-Delhi-Toronto via cleartrip website for *th January ****. Due to the covid regulations prevalent in India at that time, I couldnt take the flight as I tested Covid Positive on Pretravel Test. I i...
Mar 08, 2022 by Gurjas Singh Suri
Refund amount not recieved (TRAVOLOOK TRAVEL AGENCY) Open
HI, Its been more than a month that my tickets have been cancelled and even after cotacting customer support of travolook multiple times,no use and i have not yet received the amount...
Mar 07, 2022 by Raghav
Refund not received (Indigo Airlines) Open
Booking reference number CM*GGQ, an amount of SAR ***. > No Refund received until date...
Feb 26, 2022 by Parthiban
NO REFUND RECEIVED YET (Travolook) Open
I HAVE BOOKED A FLIGHT TICKET ON JAN ** ****, THROUGHT TRAVOLOOK MY "REF NO *********" . I RECEIVED A MAIL STATING THAT "YOUR BOOKING IS CANCELLED DUE TO FARE EXPIRATION" .i have contacted them via mobile on same day they have informed me that...
Feb 23, 2022 by KISHOR RATHORE
Refund not given (Goibibo airlines) Open
the tickets for Bangalore to Delhi were booked on ** of Feb the transaction was done for the tickets but there was no reflection on the booking (transaction id ************) My booking was for Wednesday ** of Feb I would like to have a refund ...
Feb 21, 2022 by Madhumitha S
Refund not completed (Goibibo) Open
I booked a hotel on **.**.**** through Goibibo for which money was deducted but no booking ID generated. I contacted SBI for refund after passing of ** days for refund, to which they replied in writing by stating that money is with Goibibo. Thi...
Feb 21, 2022 by Abhilash Raghav
Flexible Flight Ticket rebooking issue (Myholidays.com) Open
I had booked two flight tickets from Sharjah-Kochi for ** Dec **** and return on *th Jan **** via Myholidays.com platform, with an additional payment of *** AED (Rs *,***) for free change of travel dates. On**th November, over a month prior to ...
Feb 18, 2022 by Jiboy Jacob Philip
Amount not refunded (Travolook) Open
I have booked my air ticket from travolook via netbanking. Money has been deducted from my account Rs ****, payment was done by my side on ** Jan **** after ** working days I have not received my refund yet...
Feb 16, 2022 by Vaibhav Kumar chaubey
Refund for flight cancelled by airline (Flipkart travel) Open
Its been almost a month i am following with flipkart for refund of my booking id FF************** which was due to cancellation of flight by airline and status shows it may take * days for the refund to deposited to your account but its been a...
Feb 16, 2022 by Rahul manchanda
Refund for Cancellation Travel Restricted to JP (Goibibo) Open
I booked a ticket for Travel to Tokyo from New Delhi via Goibibo on Nov *th, ****; my booking Id is GOFLIMTDF*************. However, on November **, ****, I received an email from ANA with the following message: " URGENT NOTICE FROM ANA TO ...
Feb 15, 2022 by A Randhawa
Refund for Cancellation Travel Restricted to JP (Make my trip) Open
We booked a ticket for Travel to Tokyo from New Delhi via MakeMyTrip in October ****; our booking Id is NN*************. However, on November **, ****, we received an email from ANA with the following message: " URGENT NOTICE FROM ANA TO A...
Feb 15, 2022 by A Randhawa
Refund for Cancellation Travel Restricted to JP (Cleartrip) Open
I booked a ticket for Travel to Tokyo from New York via Cleartrip in November ****; the trip Id is ************. However, on November **, ****, due to the spread of Omicron, the Japanese Consulate's Website indicated that " As a strengthening o...
Feb 15, 2022 by A Randhawa
Cancelled tickets amount not refunded (AirIndia Airlines) Closed
Hello Team, My tickets were cancelled and the refund is not initiated nor amount is not credited to my account even after ** days.E-Commerce team doesn't respond nor reply the calls....
Aug 04, 2020 by Jyoshna donadula
Ticket refund due to covid cancellation (malaysian airlines) Closed
Malayasia Airlines not refunding Refundable Flex fare tickets for BOM-BKI-BOM sector that got cancelled due to Covid pandemic. Total of * tickets purchased directly from Malaysian Airlines website. ...
Aug 04, 2020 by Bimal Anulal
Dear Sir, I made booking PNR - YZ*DJ for **th March flight But Air India cancelled my booking stating Space issue. I was forced to book another flight and then called Air India and asked to refund and their CS confirmed me that my payment wil...
Aug 03, 2020 by Prem
Air india flight ticket (Airindia) Closed
I booked the ticket for Kolkata from Pune as westbengal government suspended flights airline cancelled the ticket now they are not giving me the refund of the amount when I call the customer service they are disconnecting the call...
Aug 01, 2020 by Zameer kha
Not able to use credit voucher issued by goibibo against my flight (Goibib Website) Closed
I Have booked a flight on ** march **** from Ranchi to Delhi with GoAir airlines having flight No G*-*** and PNR no. OF*Z*R. The airlines has cancelled the flight and refunded the amount but goibibo has taken that money and issued a credit vouc...
Jul 31, 2020 by M Suhail Saleem
Didn t get my refund (Goibibo airlines Indigo Airlines) Closed
I was about to book a new flight with the same flight PNR which was cancelled on March...but i came to know yesterday that the Indigo airlines refunded the money already which i didn't get... So i am trying to contact goibibo to ask about the m...
Jul 30, 2020 by Chanreisem Kasar
JET AIRWAYS Makemytrip India (Jet Airways) Closed
I had booked * Jet airways ticket on March ** **** with Makemytrip India. I have raised several complaints but every time they just cancel the call. I have reached out to Jet Airways as well but they ask me to reach out to the vendor instead. M...
Jul 30, 2020 by AYUSH DEVAN
I called many times air india after a long hold which is more than ** mins every agent picked and dc so finally my call landed to lovely lady she told me flight is not operating due to covid ** so you will be getting refund now its been more th...
Jul 29, 2020 by isha grover
Flight cancelled during lockdown (AirAsia And Flipkart Travel) Closed
I am writing to lodge a complaint against the Airasia India refund. I had booked a ticket from Delhi To Guwahati with the PNR# F@@@@@. It was scheduled to depart from Delhi on **-Apr-**, however was rescheduled to **-Apr-** due to the ongoi...
Jul 29, 2020 by Nilotpal Rajkhowa
Refund not initiated (Goibibo airlines) Closed
I booked a flight ticket on **th June from Mumbai To Kochi for **th June **** using Go Ibibo App for Spicejet airlines amounting Rs.**,***/-.But later the flight was cancelled by airlines and the amount was kept in their shell balance account....
Jul 28, 2020 by Rajil
Flight Ticket Refund not provided (Air India) Closed
Respected Sir, Due to this COVID-** situation i am asking for my refund as there are the passengers of age more than ** years and have diabetes and other health issues. I am continuously trying to contact to the customer care but no response ...
Jul 28, 2020 by Mridul Gupta
International flight purchased through Goibibo com Flight cancelled by indigo airline because of Cov (Goibibo.com) Closed
International flight purchased through Goibibo.com, from Dammam to Raipur for ** May ****, on **th April **** Flight was cancelled by indigo airline because of Covid-**, and i got message that my amount is in credit shell at goibibo.com, and ca...
Jul 27, 2020 by Hasnain Ansari
FLIGHT BOOKING FROM VIA COM (Via.com) Closed
Dear Sir/Ma'am, Greetings from IndiGo. With reference to your legal notice, we would like to state that we completely understand your request and would like to inform you that under the below mentioned PNRs we have processed full refund...
Jul 27, 2020 by RAHUL RAJ
Unfair charges for extra weight (Air India) Closed
I’m a student in University College London who had to make sudden plans to return to India due to the pandemic. I tried to wrap up my baggage to not excessively exceed baggage allowance for the Vande Bharat flight. However, * bag was ** kgs w...
Jul 27, 2020 by Shradha Mishra
Ticket cancelled by AirIndia without our confirmation (Airindia) Closed
Me along with my kid was suppose to travel on **th July, but the tickets got cancelled by Air India even without our request, and on top of it Air India did not even had the courtesy to inform us on the next action. Even after paying the money,...
Jul 27, 2020 by Vibitha Vidyanandan
Flight Ticket Refund (T) Closed
I booked a ticket for a Mumbai - Ahmedabad flight scheduled ** March, ****. The flight got cancelled due to the coronavirus. It wasn’t lockdown yet, but the flight got cancelled from the airline’s side. I then received an email from go ...
Jul 27, 2020 by Rony Vora
No refund even after two months (AirIndia Airlines) Closed
Its going to be two months. I booked my ticket for ** may, **** from Hyd to Asr. Air India cancelled my flight but didnot inform me at all. I kept on calling air india to confirm from one week till night before arrival. No body informed me and ...
Jul 26, 2020 by Ashna sharma
Air India Domestic Travel Refund related issue (Yatra.com) Closed
Booked ticket on AirIndia flight a*** flying on ** July but flight cancelled by ai. Approached yatra for cancellation reimbursement where they asked me for my id and handwritten request which I promptly provided them but now they claim that ref...
Jul 25, 2020 by Dhanya Menon
Refund of Cancelled Flight (Go Airlines India Ltd) Closed
I had booked a Go Air flight from Bengaluru to Nagpur for **th June'**** via Ease My Trip fro ₹*,*** . While trying to web check-in I noticed the flight had been cancelled and I rescheduled it to **th June on the Go-Air website. Again the fli...
Jul 25, 2020 by Sunny Sangtani
Complaint against goibibo (Goibibo airlines) Closed
please help us. I have booked air tickets through goibibo to air asia. flight was cancelled due to covid-**. and air asia refund my fare amount ***** to goibibo account but goibibo is not refunding same to customers. kindly requesting to you ...
Jul 23, 2020 by yogesh kumar
"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