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 credited (Veertrip com) Open
I Booked Flight ticket on Veertrip com from Madurai to New delhi on *nd December **** amount has been deducted from my side but PNR status not issued to me PNR ID ********...
Jan 04, 2024 by P Thiruppathi
REQUEST REFUND FOR UNUTILISED TICKET (Emirates Airlines) Open
PURCHASED A AIR TICKET THRO EASEMYTRIP IN EMIRATES AIRLINE FOR KARTHIK PRAKASH MY SON UNDER PNR *WYLHR. AS PLAN CHANGED TICKET WAS CANCELLED & REFUND REQUESTED ON **TH DEC **. NO ACTION TAKEN BY THE THIRD PARTY AGENT S WELL THE AIRLINE EMIRATE...
Dec 30, 2023 by SWAMINATHAN PRAKASH
Complaint regarding misbehaviour of Turkish Airline staff and mental harassment (Turkish Airlines) Open
I tried to reach out to Turkish airlines through their feedback system but without success. Hence, I’m forced to use this route as a last resort to file a complaint. On **th June ****, me and my parents travelled from Izmir to Dubai via Ank...
Dec 30, 2023 by Anand Sharma
Europe tour package (Easemy Trip Com) Open
I have to inform you that I bought a Europe holiday package from easemytrip.com My package start on **.**.**** from DEL to CDG and return on **.**.**** from ZRH to DEL. Sir, we have been stopped by Airindia executive at boarding counter ...
Dec 29, 2023 by JITENDRA VERMA
Flight booking refund for jet aiways flight booked through MMT (Make my trip) Open
Booked a flight through MMT from chennai to Paris . Since jet airways shutdown its operations, mmt was suppose to collect the refund and provide the money. I have not received any communication nor i am able to reach out MMT support anymore. Ne...
Dec 28, 2023 by Rakesh H
Goibibo not honoring a refundable onward journey ticket and later cancelled my return journey (Goibibo) Open
On **th August, I booked a return ticket from Bangalore to San Francisco to meet my sister and her family and be with my parents who were visiting San Francisco. The flight details were as below : Onward Journey – Bangalore to San Francisco ...
Dec 22, 2023 by Anand Sharma
Cyber Fraud of Rs (mahadev Car Rentals) Open
yesterday (**.**.**) i wanted a cab for Surat, hence i searched in the google and my search came end on mahadevcarrentals.com, i filled the initial details like name and number and pickup point and drop point for call back, then after i receive...
Dec 21, 2023 by Devesh Agrawal
Harassment Complaint against Indigo Airlines (Indigo Airlines) Open
My name is Amit Kalra, and I would like to take legal action against Indigo Airlines for the harassment and inconvenience caused due to flight delay *E-** scheduled to depart from Delhi to Istanbul at **:** am on **th Dec ****. The flight was f...
Dec 18, 2023 by AMIT KALRA
Not getting 100 refund (Air Asia) Open
I had booked air india flight ticket on *th December **** from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore for the date of ** December through yatra.com. I cancelled it within ** hours through yatra.com. But air india does not return ***% refund money. I had pay ...
Dec 16, 2023 by Prakash Ranjan Sahoo
Fake hotel booking (Agoda app) Open
Recently I booked a hotel in Digha, through Agoda app and paid full price. However, while contacting the hotel I found no one is attending the calls and the property doesn't exist. I have already raised this issue to the Agoda authority, howeve...
Dec 13, 2023 by Chinmoy Bose
Refund not initiate in 2 months (Ease my trip com) Open
They are harassing and committed to not my money back...
Dec 10, 2023 by Dipta Roy
SpiceJet Issue (Spicejet Air Line) Open
Hello, Please see my details below, Name:- Kiran Kumari Email:- kiranjha****@yahoo.com Mob:- +** ********** Booking SpiceJet airline for my last trip was the worst decision of my life. It was really a nightmare to reach to my destinati...
Dec 06, 2023 by Kiran Kumari
Not getting refund of my flight cancellations request of booking reference no (Yatra flight booking ) Open
I've cancelled my flights through yatra app within **hrs on *th December. But when I checked it in yatra app now it's showing "We cannot find any refund request for the reference number- *************". When I call yatra customer care they sai...
Dec 06, 2023 by Prakash Ranjan Sahoo
Flight delayed by 3 hours and 45 minutes (Indigo Airlines) Open
Indigo *E ***, staff kept lying about the non availability on Main pilot and delayed the flight by * hrs and ** minutes. I had to travel further *-* hrs from delhi for my home for some personal emergency. Faced a huge mental trauma due to delay...
Dec 05, 2023 by Pankush
Ethiad airways suspended my rewards account without information (Ethiad Airways) Open
Hello Sir, I had created my account in Etihad Guest and I transferred all the points of my bank credit card to it. I also transferred all the points of my Marriott hotel to it. After that the ethiad guest suspended my account .when i call they...
Dec 04, 2023 by Kawal kumar
Money deducted but ticket is unable to confirm (Go To Gate ) Open
Hi, Today at *:** am I bought a ticket from Abu Dhabi - Mumbai. The flight is a connecting flight. The flight ticket price is INR *,*** and I made the payment through my debit card and money got deducted at *:** am but within a few minutes I r...
Nov 21, 2023 by Shoa Un Nabi Ahmad Khan
Refund not provided for cancelled flight (Air india) Open
My parents were to take a SFO-BOM flight with Air India which got cancelled, and have not received refunds worth *,**,*** as was promised *) My parents, with medical issues, were kept boarded for * hours on a flight, and deboarded in the middl...
Nov 21, 2023 by Preey Shah
CLAIM FOR MISSED 2 MISSED TRAIN DUE TO DELAYED BAGGAGE AND EXTREMELY POOR SERVICE (Etihad Airways) Open
MY BOOKING REFERENCE NO: W**G*Q WE HAD BOOKED A BUSINESS CLASS AND STILL ENCOUNTERED A PATHETIC SERVICES; *. THE ONBOARD SERVICE DID NOT HAVE VEGETARIAN FOOD AND BOTH MY PARENTS AGED ** AND ** HAD TO DUE SURVIVE ONLY ON FRUITS. *. SECONDLY, ...
Nov 17, 2023 by Sarthak Jain
Refund not received for my cancelled flight PNR (Make my trip) Open
PNR: B**IRV DEPT DATE: *TH MAY **** Mail I have shared to Goibibo and Gofirst airlines As no action taken from Gofirst and Goibibo both since past * months. My money is blocked since * months, at the same time,one of my friends got her re...
Nov 14, 2023 by Pallavi gupta
Again clear trip regarding airline cancellation (Clear Trip flights ) Open
I have booked a ticket with clear trip on *th November *:**AM CST for etihad airways and I cancelled the same ticket on *th November *:**PM CST which is less than * hours and they have given * Rs refund for the same . As per the india and USA a...
Nov 08, 2023 by Anusha
Misleading information (Easemytrip) Closed
I booked a Thai Lion Air flight through EMT. I had to cancel the trip due to medical reasons. EMT adviced not to cancel but convert to open ticket and only airline rescheduling fee + fare difference would be charged. Recently, I was planning ...
May 23, 2023 by Neeti Pokharna
Refund still on process (Make my trip) Closed
I booked a flight from Kozhikode to Dubai on *nd May ****. When I booked it was direct flight (PNR *TAFC*) , but later the direct flight changed to connection flight , travelling from kozhikode to Mumbai and then Mumbai to Dubai. I cancelled th...
May 19, 2023 by Mohammed Nihad Elayaveettil
Ticket Cancelled by Airline and Cleartrip has not refunded (Cleartrip) Closed
I booked a ticket for my niece from Hyderabad to Imphal via Kolkotta in Air India through Cleartrip.com depature from Hyderabad on * May **** and return on * June ****. I booked it three months ago in order to get cheaper flight for my niece wh...
May 17, 2023 by Madhu Chandra
Nonrefund of Cancelled Ticket Amount (Yatra.com) Closed
My spouse and my son were scheduled to travel on **/**/**** from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Mumbai, however, the Airline company Air Tanzania refused them to board by stating that their tickets are not confirmed by the Ticket Agent in my case i...
May 14, 2023 by Ankit Maheshbhai Patadia
Bullying for charge of extra weight where as no extra weight was with us (Spice Jet) Closed
I had no ** kg weight luggage. Only cabin luggage was with me. It was * kg @ *.* kg . Before taking the boarding pass I requested if I can take in cabin as I had no weight luggage . I was assured to take. At exit I was made to wait @ threatene...
Apr 29, 2023 by Naresh rathi
Regarding date change for booking id (Agoda) Closed
HI Team , I have been calling agoda customer care from past * week . I have requested to postpone the dates from April**th -**nd to July **-**th as my father undergone a operation . On , **th April , the date got changed and got updated in t...
Apr 24, 2023 by Prashant Nambiar
Flight rescheduled 4 times and cancelled 6hrs prior to departure (GOFIRST AIRLINES ) Closed
Writing on behalf of my friend Akash. I had booked a flight from gofirst airline with PNR P***VM. I was supposed to land at Ahmedabad on **th April **** at **.** . It has been rescheduled * times since then. And later it was cancelled *hrs prio...
Apr 10, 2023 by Ankita Ramesh
Delay in delivering baggage for business class seat (Air India) Closed
I was traveling from vadodara to delhi in air india flight AI *** which took off from vadodara at *.** pm approx i was travelling in business class and hence my luggage was on priority..but at delhi airport it took more than half an hour to be ...
Apr 04, 2023 by Meeta Bhatia
Charged but no services provided (Makemytrip) Closed
*. I booked Spicemax category tickets where your website apart from offering priority checkin, etc , also offers seats with extra leg space. But As I tried to web checkin after making the full payment , it does not allow me to select spicemax s...
Mar 17, 2023 by Pawan Kumar Rai
Cleartrip is neither confirmed tickets nor refunding the amount (Cleartrip) Closed
I was booking flight tickets from Milan to Bangalore. In the middle of the booking I got a call from cleartrip and they promoted me to book through telebooking. I made full payment but they didn’t confirm the tickets for a whole day. When I e...
Feb 23, 2023 by Cinuta Gayatri
Incomplete Name in International flight ticket (Flipkart) Closed
I have booked an international return flight tickets on Flipkart for airline Go First which is costing me almost Rs.**k Due to a technical issue with Flipkart, I could not enter my full name as per passport records. When I inadvertently ...
Jan 19, 2023 by Srikanth Mallya
Money deduced but not received ticket confirmation neither getting refund (Yatra Online Private Limited) Closed
I was booking flight from Mumbai to Bhuvneshwar and Bhuvneshwar to Mumbai but amount has been deduced and but received ticket confirmation . Also not getting refund back my amount.. Upi reference is ************...
Jan 17, 2023 by Roshan kumar
Refund not credited (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Closed
Hello sir mem i had book ticket from make my trip which i cancelled before ** hour flight DATE nov ** pnr tel aviv to rajkot PNR *GGGNQ name.pratap karabhai gorsera i contact them for refund but they are saying call to make maytrip and after th...
Jan 10, 2023 by Pratap gorsera
Fraud Company (Happyeasygo India Private Limited ) Closed
I booked a ticket on happyeasygo. Opted for free cancellation by paying extra amount. Now, when i'm trying to cancel the flight i'm not seeing any refund amount. Getting an option to proceed with cancellation with penalty charges....
Jan 08, 2023 by Sarthak Chhabda
Refund from Airline for cancellation on medical grounds (Make My Trip) Closed
Booked return air ticket to Bali, Indonesia for *th Oct **** and return to Bangalore, India on **th Oct ****. Booking number X****M, MMT Booking ID NN*XJI*GCAPF*C*B**** I was hospitalized on *st Oct. Requested cancellation on *nd Oct. Refund...
Dec 10, 2022 by Vishal Pawar
Flight tickets not issued after successful payment (Cleartrip) Closed
I have booked * flight tickets from Calicut to Pune through Cleartrip on **/**/****. I made payment through credit card and the payment wa completed. Upon completing the payment I received a message with a certain trip id and no confirmation of...
Dec 10, 2022 by Sooryanarayanan S
Refund plus interest (Indigo Airline ) Closed
Dear Sir/Madam, I booked a return flight Chandigarh-Delhi-Jabalpur on September **, **** with Indigo through Expedia (India) to start my journey on October **, ****. I paid Rs**,***.**. On September **, **** Indigo cancelled my flights. I app...
Dec 08, 2022 by Sukhdev Sumra
Refund payment (Amazon India) Closed
Amazon Contact no *****.***** Helpline Number.. Amazon Contact no *****.***** Helpline NumberIndibulls Amazon Contact no *****.***** Helpline Number.........
Oct 12, 2022 by Taju
MAKEMYTRIP CHECKIN DENIED (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Closed
Booked hotel from **-** Oct**** at Hotel Neelkanth Bliss, Ahmedabad. hotel denied checkin and same has been confirmed by Makemytrip requested alternate equivalent property , but makemytrip providing degraded lower category hotel . ...
Oct 11, 2022 by Anurag singhal
Unable to reschedule flight (Easemytrip) Closed
I did as the customer care executive told me on the phone four times, I have tried rescheduling the flight through the app, website, after logging in as a guest user and logging in through my personal account too. But I wasn't able to because t...
Oct 08, 2022 by Kaveri 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