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.
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. 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 generated (Air india) Open
I cancelled my ticket but the refund was never generated Electronic ticket: ************* Electronic ticket: ************* ...
Jan 12, 2021 by HARSHIT JAIN
Refund is not initiated (Travolook in) Open
I have booked a flight ticket with this travel agency but it seems to be a totally fraud. they took payment and after ** minutes called me back also sent a mail saying flight is cancelled. They are not refunding my amount. I have not even recei...
Jan 11, 2021 by Ayush Raj
Not accepting credit shell or rescheduling of Maldives booking (Dmc Maldives ) Open
Had booked Maldives package from DMC maldives and my guests were supposed to travel on **th Oct **** but suddenly received flight cancellation update on **th Oct **** from the airline and did not get any substitute airline so guests could not t...
Jan 10, 2021 by Sanket Edake
Air ticket refund (Indigo Airlines) Open
Dear Team, On **.**.**** I did my travel booking from Kuwait to Mumbai & return through make my trip for that i had to pay an amount of Rs.*****.**. On **.**.**** i received an email from Indigo saying that my flight from Kuwait to Mumbai (one...
Jan 10, 2021 by Kiran Ananda Bhamare
Flight refund not processed correctly by booking website (Goibibo) Open
The flight was cancelled due to national lockdown. Despite having purchased 'cancellation protection' from Goibibo, they refused to refund stating the flight company (GoAir) was not refunding the INR**** paid as flight cost. I went directly to ...
Jan 08, 2021 by Aparna Anilkumar
Refund not received for the cancelled Air India ticket (Air india) Open
I booked international flight tickets in February **** for the travel in October **** and I cancelled the tickets in September well before my date of travel. I tried to contact ecommerce and customer service for the refund, but they are forward...
Jan 07, 2021 by Rathan Shetty
Refund not initiated (Travolook) Open
It's been * days of ticket cancellation but I haven't received any update about the refund that I am supposed to received, neither the company contacted me nor they are answering to my calls. I had paid **** INR for ticket booking from Mumbai t...
Jan 07, 2021 by Kajol
I tried to book a flight ticket on Air India Website on November **st, the money (**,***.**) got deducted from my account but the ticket was not issued. The tickets were getting booked fastly so I tried to book the ticket again on November **nd...
Jan 07, 2021 by udaygundeti
Money not refunded even after one month of flight booking cancellation (TRAVO LOOK TRAVEL AGENCY) Open
I booked flight ticket from bhopal to delhi for ** dec on * dec **** through travolook website. After ** minutes they called and said your ticket is cancelled because of fare change. I was already disappointed but the problem began later that i...
Jan 07, 2021 by Ruchir Patidar
Refund pending from Goibibo (Goibibo) Open
I had done hotel reservation on **th of November **** in Udaipur and due to some travel restrictions across states I had to cancel it. I had cancelled my bookings on **th November and was expecting the refund by *st of December ****. It's now J...
Jan 06, 2021 by Amarpreet Singh
Cleartrip not refunding amount for cancelled ticket (Cleartrip) Open
*********** - I had booked a ticket from Indore to Bangalore. Due to COVID ,we could not travel and the ticket was cancelled. We got the below mail from Clear trip saying that ticket was cancelled and amount will be refunded on Aug**th. ...
Jan 06, 2021 by Mohan Kumar PB
Incorrect refund for air ticket cancellation by Cleartrip (Cleartrip) Open
Had airline tickets for * passengers - air india from Dehradun to mumbai, but flight was cancelled due to covid lockdown. Cleartrip cancelled only * ticket first instead of cancelling both tickets. Amount deducted was only Rs. *** for first tic...
Jan 03, 2021 by Kushal Mehta
Goibibo isn t refunding (Goibibo) Open
Our flight has been cancelled due to covid-** pandemic, on **th March,****. Flight was AMD - IXC with Go air, G* ***. We booked this flight through Goibibo. Now, Goair has already issued refunds in last week of November, ****. But, Goibibo is...
Jan 02, 2021 by Dhruv Patel
Fake Club Membership (Go Holidays Pvt. Ltd.) Open
They promise me *star hotel and you can not comfirt with our Membership we promise your payment refund with **days of Membership, Then i agree with this policy and i purchase ** year membership his employee Mr.Niraj Yadav at our resident locati...
Jan 01, 2021 by MAHESH RAVJIBHAI TOGADIYA
Ticket Refund Delayed 4 Months (Air India) Open
Due to Air bubble dispute between India and Germany. * tickets booked during the time duration was cancelled by the company itself and refund was initiated. But still now they have not refunded the amount after following the claim process .Even...
Dec 31, 2020 by Gopalakrishnan Selvaraj
No refunds of Air Tickets Booked through Travel Triangle (Travel Triangle ) Open
I booked a trip to Bali through Travel Triangle Booking ID*******. I paid ***** out of which ***** is refunded but remaining air ticket amount is sill pending with them from last * months. Please let us know why it is on hold & when it will b...
Dec 31, 2020 by SACHIN
Unable to cancel flight ticket (via com) Open
I booked Air Asia flight tickets at via.com and the flight was rescheduled by Air Asia. While the airline offers refund the website via.com is not letting me cancel the ticket. They aren't answering phone or replying emails. Am stuck being unab...
Dec 31, 2020 by Ashok Rajendran
Refund Not received (Make My Trip) Open
I had booked flight from Mumbai to Narita to Mumbai on ANA via Make My Trip. ANA cancelled the flight. ANA has informed me that they have refunded the money to Make my trip in Oct ****. However Make my trip has not refunded the money so far and...
Dec 31, 2020 by Hemant Mohgaonkar
Refund of flight ticket PNR ALUMNA and SWVHWK (Goibibo) Open
PNR: ALUMNA & SWVHWK from Goibibo Delhi - Kolkata( round trip) amount has not been refunded, only mails are coming for transactions process but not no money has been reflecting on my account.Since * months they are harassing me.Reference No. **...
Dec 30, 2020 by Atoshi Mitra
Not Received my money as flight was not operational due to pandemic situation (Cleartrip) Open
I booked my Air India flight ( Trip ID -************) from cleartrip portal on ** March **** and the travel date was **th March **** from HYD to RDP. But the flight got cancelled due to non operational on pandemic situations. So in this scenari...
Dec 30, 2020 by Vishal Singh
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
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 (Go Air) 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
Refund not credited (Cleartrip and AirAsia) Closed
I booked Air Asia * tickets * months back and flight was cancelled by Air Asia citing the reasons as operational issue. I followed with Air Asia for full refundbof my money. Initially they were not responding to my mails but at last they send m...
Aug 27, 2020 by Devesh Kumar
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
"Number of times I tried to get a refund from OYO but they did not bother. But after I approached Voxya, they nicely handled the matter and I got my refund."
Samit Brahmachari
Complaint filed against: OYO Hotels