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
Purchase Holiday Package From Star India Holiday but there is no confirmation on booking yet (Star India Holiday) Open
Hello Team, I have purchased the *Night * days Goa holiday package for * adults from "Star India Holiday" on **th OCT ****, I have made the payment of *****/-. The package was purchased for stay in "Beleza by the beach" resort Goa from **th N...
Nov 10, 2021 by Rahul Arbat
Travolook Ticket cancelled and Refund not received (Travolook) Open
I booked a flight from Indore to Goa via travolook on **th Sep **. Just after my booking was confirmed and the money was deducted from my account I got a phone call from the agency that the ticket is cancelled and my money will get refunded wit...
Nov 10, 2021 by Manorama Choyal
Refund not processed from merchant for cancelled flight booking (Travolook) Open
I had booked a flight ticket on travolook.in and got mail booking in progress will be confirmed in ** minutes .But booking cancelled saying Cancelled due to fare expiration. Then i mailed them regarding refund they mentioned in *-** days you ll...
Nov 08, 2021 by Pradip Kumar Mohapatra
Refund not received (Travolook in) Open
I had booked a ticket for * passengers on **-Sep but due to technical reasons as per Travolook the booking got cancelled but I am still waiting for my refund since **-Sep. Every time I call they share me same excuses for Payment Gateway issues ...
Nov 08, 2021 by Swaroop Ranjan Baghar
Flight rescheduling without fine not issued for Genuine Reason (AirAsia) Open
I've booked * air tickets for me and my family to fly to visit our relatives from Cochin to Delhi and return on dates **-**-**** and **-**-****. However my brother is studying in **th standard and his Main Semester * exam and been postponed fr...
Nov 06, 2021 by Gowri Shankar KS
Automatic cancel of ticket Non refund of fair from Travolook com (Travolook Com) Open
I booked some tickets from Travlook which were cancelled after payments, details are mentioned below. Booking Ref No. Booking Date PRN No. Date of Journey Route Refund Amt. Remarks From To REF********* **-Oct-** KNLFUT **-Nov-** Lucknow Indo...
Nov 03, 2021 by Nitin Anchal
Air Ticket Refund (TRAVO LOOK TRAVEL AGENCY) Open
on **th September i booked ticket from bhubaneswar to Bangalore for amount ****. After ticket booking i got mail that your booking got cancelled due to operational issue and refund amount **** will be credited to your account by *-* working...
Nov 03, 2021 by Sanjay Kumar Agasti
Flipkart refusing complaint (Flipkart travel) Open
Dear Sir, Due to nationwide lockdown because of COVID-** declared on March ****, my flights booked on Mon, Feb **, ****, with Booking ID FF************* and PNR AVAAAD for an amount of Rs.*****/- has been canceled by the airline itself. I w...
Nov 02, 2021 by Jasir
Agoda payment debited from my credit card but booking not confirmed (Agoda) Open
I Was Planning A Vacation In Dubai For Which I Had To Make Hotel Bookings. So On *nd November ****, I Opened Agoda.Com And Searched For Hotel Movenpick Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai (Note: I Didn’t Login Into My User Account At Agoda.Com.) I ...
Nov 02, 2021 by Eashaan Balwani
REFUND NOT RECEIVED (Travolook Www Travolook In) Open
I booked a ticket through Travolook for Indigo airlines from Indore to Hyderabad on *th October **** to travel on *th October ****, They deducted my money and within few seconds sent me a message and email that your ticket could not be confirme...
Nov 02, 2021 by Reshma Nawaz Hussain
Refund not received (Indian Overseas Bank) Open
I had booked tickets thru Cleartrip in the month of august.i have complained thru escalation also.All the required details are given fully.The central operation bank also rejected. their refund.They have asked for more details from cleartrip.it...
Oct 30, 2021 by R selvi
Not receiving refund refund money for last 17 months (Air India and Happy Easy Go) Open
It started with booking a Air India Flight ticket via a *rd party vendor site-Happy Easy Go. I have attached the ticket details. It was booked on Sat, ** May ****. Due to covid situation, during lockdown as there were no flights running the tic...
Oct 30, 2021 by Baishali Das
Credit Shell not received (Cleartrip) Open
I booked a United Airlines flight from Orlando to New Delhi **oct. But CDC didn't allowed me to board the flight because I'm a Seaman and cannot board the flight because it was connecting in USA so I needed the flight which should be straight o...
Oct 29, 2021 by Sagar Rawat
Air India Ticket got rescheduled (Air india) Open
I booked my ticket on *th dec **** in Air India flight at **:** hour ,then they prepend there flight **:** hours, means it's gonna departure at *:**am in morning, now I talked to the travel agent they said we will reschedule it, we are transfer...
Oct 28, 2021 by Santan Kumar Sharma
Refund of cancelled flight not issued (Air India Express) Open
I have booked ticket from Jaipur to Dubai dated *th July **** and then further it got rescheduled to **th July ****, however finally the flight was cancelled and I have requested the refund. I have checked my credit card statement, however t...
Oct 27, 2021 by Pankaj Pareek
Flight ticket refund not processing it has been 60 days now (Travolook) Open
As all said in google reviews, same thing happened with me, i have booked the ticket on ** august ****, they just cancelled the ticket and told to give refund in * to ** working days but today is ** oct ****, still I have not got the refund. Ev...
Oct 26, 2021 by vadegepally manohar
Full refund not received (Cleartrip) Open
I booked a flight on *rd Oct to fly from Bangalore to Raipur on *th Oct ****. I cancelled my trip on *th Oct which is ** hours before flight departure time. This was a ezcancel ticket and I am eligible for full refund. I only received partial r...
Oct 26, 2021 by Kaushik Mandal
Refund not received from Cleartrip (Cleartrip ae) Open
I purchased an Ingido ticket for my Son from Cleartrip using my credit card on the **rd of September for a flight on **th of September for **** AED. I applied for a date change on the cleartrip website on **th of September. The new ticket issue...
Oct 25, 2021 by Juzar Yusuf Noorani
Tickets not generated but money was held (Travolook) Open
Here is my reference number REF********* I booked a ticket worth **** from this fraud website. No ticket was printed instead I was offered refund back in * working days and I am yet to receive my refund since **th September ****. They have a g...
Oct 22, 2021 by Meenakshi Ramachandran
I have not received my refund (Travol look) Open
I had booked a flight ticket from travol look and I got a call from their customer service and they said they flight ticket has increased I had to pay extra amount otherwise it will be cancelled. I asked them to cancel and refund my money back....
Oct 22, 2021 by Sai durga ram prasad siriparapu
Goibiborefund (Goibibo airlines) Closed
I have made a spice jet flight booking from Goibibo on ** th june vide PNR FYHR*J, flight got cancelled from the airlines itself I have been chasing for the refund from almost ** DAYS but till date I have not recieved any refund from Goibibo. ...
Jun 28, 2020 by Ishita
Go Air Cancelled by Airlines and Refund not provided (Go Air Airlines) Closed
I got the confirmation from GoAir the day before travel that flight got canceled and I will be refunded with the amount. However, till date I did not receive the refund My flight got canceled on March ** ****. Previous ticket raised with Go Air...
Jun 28, 2020 by Sougata Banerjee
Flight cancelled (T) Closed
They don’t tell prior about flight will cancel and afterwards they are not even refunding money my flight was Booked for the date ** June **** From Pune to Jabalpur connecting flight G* *** as they didn’t inform about cancellation also the...
Jun 27, 2020 by Priyanka soni
Didn t receive refund from Goibibo for flight cancelled (Goibibo airlines) Closed
I request Goibibo to refund the money of my cancelled ticket with due respect. I have cancelled my family flight ticket (PNR Number: O*XRJB, travel dates :** April and **th June, ****) from Hyderabad-Shanghai-Hyderabad ticket on ** March,***...
Jun 27, 2020 by Afroz Khan
GoAir Flight 118 Cancelled by Airlines and Refund not provided (T) Closed
This is to bring to your notice that my Go Air flight G*-*** scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Delhi on *th June ****, was cancelled by Airlines and was intimated to us ** hours before departure. There was no alternative travel option provided...
Jun 27, 2020 by Gaurav Barman
Rescheduling refund of my booking cancelled due to Covid19 (Gopal Singh) Closed
I have booked * tickets from Bangalore-Delhi-Bangalore having PNR-FEIIVA/BBWN*T/RP*Y*U/VG*PQV., trying to reschedule these ticket from last * month but unable to use credit shell. when called air line they confirmed that they have refunded the ...
Jun 27, 2020 by Gopal Singh
AirIndia refund not received (Airindia) Closed
I had booked a flight from Germany to India and a return flight for April ** ****. Airindia cancelled my flight in mid March, but they haven't refunded my money yet. I have made a number of calls to the customer care and have written dozens of ...
Jun 23, 2020 by Gargi Ampli
Ticket Refund not given pnr (Goair) Closed
I have booked a flight from Jaipur to Bengaluru. for **th May due to lockdown its reschedule to ** June. then after I have changed to * June. but all goair flights canceled from jaipur. i have waited for more than ** days but no goair fligh...
Jun 22, 2020 by Ankur sharma
Technical Glitch in Cleartrip website (Cleartrip Flights) Closed
Team, I have booked the ticket correctly through Cleartrip. I have mentioned my wife first name and middle name and last name. I have also mentioned my daughter first, middle and last name. Issue: My name which I have entered as middle name ...
Jun 21, 2020 by Yogesh panjwani
Refund amount not given (Goair) Closed
I had booked a ticket on ga air for travel from Ranchi to Kochi with PNR FE**VH. The booking was for **th March. The flight was subsequently canceled and a refund was promised. It has been over * months and I have still not received any refund....
Jun 20, 2020 by Abhijith A
Refund Not Received (Goibibo) Closed
I got following mail for my refund of train ticket "The Bank Reference Number for the transaction is **********. This will be useful for you if you choose to follow-up with your bank for delays. We have processed the refund for your trains b...
Jun 20, 2020 by Samir Bendre
Refund of canceled ticket by airline (GoAir Airline) Closed
I booked a ticket for **th june from mumbai to jammu sumeet sudan but the flight was cancelled by goair Goair has not refunded my amount till date Emails has been sent many times just received automatic reply no progress...
Jun 20, 2020 by Priya
IndiGo didn t allow me to take my flight saying my checkin luggage is extra (Indigo airlines 597) Closed
I was told by IndiGo that i can't take my paid flight since my luggage is extra. This is regarding the *:**PM flight i booked for **th June from Chennai-Kochi(*E ***, PNR : CISCTZ). I did a web check-in **hrs before and my check-in luggage w...
Jun 20, 2020 by Irin Thomas
Refund not given (Spicejet Air Line) Closed
I had booked my flight from Mumbai to Kanpur for **th april , but due to lockdown the flights didn't start. I received my amount back in Spicejet creditshell. Again I made booking for *th may, but the lockdown extended and again the flight was...
Jun 20, 2020 by Prabhat Tiwari
AIR ASIA Denied for refund of my amount due to cancellation of flight (Air Asia) Closed
AIR ASIA Denied for refund of my amount due to cancellation of flight...
Jun 19, 2020 by Mahip Goyal
Refund not received (Goibibo airlines) Closed
Hi , We have booked the flight through goibibo from nagpur to pune for Rs **** for goair airlines on date **-March -****. The flight was cancelled due to some issue and goair confirmed that they refunded full amount to back to goibibo. Late...
Jun 19, 2020 by Krishna
Refusing to pay the full refund even when government decided to stop everything (Air India Airlines) Closed
I have called air india a lot of times but they are disconnecting the calls , they are asking us to cancel the tickets and a partial amount to be paid even when the flights were cancelled by the government due too covid-** . Highly unprofession...
Jun 19, 2020 by Radhika ladha
Refund of ticket refused after flight cancellation due to covid19 (Air India) Closed
I have booked two return tickets from Trivandrum to New Delhi on AirIndia through Make my trip in December, ****. Onward journy on */**/**** and return on **/**/****. Paid Rs*****/- to Make my trip. As the flights were cancelled due to covid-*...
Jun 19, 2020 by Mohan K
Go air refund not received for cancelled flight under covid (GoAir Airline) Closed
No update after raising complaint on email and no response on call, it's auto disconnecting and it's more than ** days...
Jun 18, 2020 by Shubham Admane
Full Refund From Air India (Air India) Closed
Bought * tickets, each ticket includes three persons (total amount Rs. ***** approx) from Air India for trips from Delhi to Srinagar, Srinagar to Delhi and Delhi to Guwahati on dated **th April, **th April ****, but due to COVID all flights we...
Jun 18, 2020 by Md Ariful Hoque
"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