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 (Travolook) Open
I booked a flight from Delhi to Gorakhpur on **st August **** for **th September. After amount got debited they cancelled the booking within ** min and said to refund the amount *-** days. I called them * times till date but they say to wait fo...
Sep 16, 2021 by Vidit Srivastav
Ticket not booked refund not given (Travolook) Open
on Travalook website, on the *rd Sept, **** I tried doing the booking for air india flight from Indore to Mumbai for ** September, ****. Rs. ****/- money got deducted but I did not get the confirm ticket. I was told that the fare got expired a...
Sep 16, 2021 by Hakimuddin Kangsawala
Money debited but booking didn t happen (Agoda com) Open
I was debited Rs. ****.** for a hotel booking when I opted for pay later option however the page showed an error and that redirected me to the payment page and didn't give me any booking confirmation. ...
Sep 14, 2021 by Arunima Sardar
Money not Refunded after Ticket Cancellation (Travolook) Open
Name of the company- Travolook, Product type- Flight Ticket, Booking ID- REF*********, PNR No- Not Have Registered Email- jana.sovana**@gmail.com Registered Mobile- ********** Date of booking- **/**/**** Date of Cancellation- **/**/**** Amount ...
Sep 14, 2021 by Susovan Ghara
Refund for cancelled flight booking (Travolook) Open
On booking a flight using Travolook website on July **th ****, flight booking was cancelled by Travolook saying fare expired and got a call from them saying money will be refunded within ** business days. Today is Sep **th and haven't yet recei...
Sep 14, 2021 by Shashank Reddy Tadisina
REFUND FOR CANCELLED AIR TICKET NOT RECIEVED TRAVOLOOK IN (Travolook in) Open
BOOKED A RETURN AIR TICKET FROM TRAVOLOOK.IN SITE ON **TH AUG ** FROM BANGALORE TO COCHIN AND BACK. IMMEDIATELY AFTER MAKING PAYMENT AND BOOKING THE FLIGHT I GOT A EMAIL AND ALSO WAS CALL BY A LADY CLAIMING TO BE FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM OF T...
Sep 14, 2021 by Blase Abraham
Denial of boarding by airlines (Qatar Airways) Open
Me and my co passenger were cleared by visa approval by the UK immigration for appearing for exam for Fellowship of Royal college of radiologists(FRCR). We booked flight to London Heathrow airport from Chennai international airport, round trip ...
Sep 14, 2021 by Rinu Susan Thomas
Makemytrip is not refunding for my international travel tickets flights got cancelled due to Covid l (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd make) Open
Hello Team, Makemytrip is not refunding my money and behaves unprofessionally and never respond to my emails and requests. I always get auto reply of closing ticket without any action on it Their customer care can never be reached via phone...
Sep 11, 2021 by Tanuj Chauhan
Refund regarding PNR of Flight ticket from IndiGo (Ease my trip com) Open
Regarding PNR-HN*NND refund of Flight ticket from IndiGo EaseMyTrip have mailed me that refund amount of Rs***** has been processed from their side and now they are telling that due to technical glitches they will give Rs****. No evidences ha...
Sep 10, 2021 by Dharamveer Kumar Singh
Money debited by service not provided (Travolook) Open
I booked a flight ticket from Guwahati to Goa on **.**.**** for travel on **.**.****. After few hours of booking and taking the money they cancelled my booking. I found it very fishy and contacted them. They said they will refund the money. Aft...
Sep 08, 2021 by Bhaskar Narayan Chakraborty
Refund not processed (Via.com) Open
I have booked a flight with via.com FMNAA*IULXQN* The PNR was cancelled directly with the Airline AirAsia and they have processed a full refund as it was cancelled within ** hours. I have received confirmation for the same from Air Asia. T...
Sep 08, 2021 by Aliasger Rangoonwala
Refund Pending from last Fifty Days (Travolook) Open
I have tried to book a flight ticket on ** July, ****, which was Cancelled due to fare expiration. When I contacted them for refund, they replied in mail that I will get refund within *-* days, but no refund came, I asked again on mail, but th...
Sep 06, 2021 by Sachin Grover
Missing Refund (Cleartrip) Open
From **/**/**** I am expecting a refund of about ***** INR from Cleartrip. it was a Covid Time booking that they were supposed to refund since I cancelled the same flight. Their finance team emailed me stating the refund was processed but I di...
Sep 06, 2021 by Gopala Dhar
Refund not yet processed (Gotogate) Open
I had booked flight tickets from Bangalore to Munich and back. To apply for a Schengen visa. But due to Covid, the visa was not approved. So, when I cancelled the ticket, Gotogate did not respond at all. I only received an automated response in...
Sep 06, 2021 by Benjamin George
Unnecessary harrassment of passengers by Air Asia (Air 2 Asia Travel And Tours Private Limited) Open
*th Sep ** I had a harrowing experience with Air Asia.. in fact the CISF guy at the Airport said that the Airlines like Air Asia are harassing their passengers at the last moment by canceling or rescheduling flights and returning passengers wit...
Sep 05, 2021 by Pallab Dasgupta
Refund not issued (Happyeasygo India Private Limited ) Open
dear team, Have canceled my air ticket via riya travels on **.*.****. Air Asia has refunded my money to agent on **.*.**** have attached email proof from air Asia its refunded to them. Riya travels is not paying the refund back without any info...
Sep 04, 2021 by Chaitanya Bn
For refund (travobook in) Open
i did a lot of complaints but did not get any answer,did not even return my mony till now...
Sep 04, 2021 by moh toufeeq
Refund not given even after (Travolook) Open
I booked flight from travolook on **th May, REF*********. they cancelled flight saying due to operational reason and they will refund amount in **-** days, i called them back after a month and they said due to bank error refund didn’t process...
Sep 03, 2021 by Nishant vikram singh
Airticket not booked by travolook in (www travolook in) Open
i booked a flight from bangalore to allahabad for the date september **th **** via www.traveolook.in couple of minutes later i received a call from an executive saying the flight ticket was cancelled due to PNR number not generated. the cus...
Sep 01, 2021 by Niranjan.B.S
Refund of Booking Amount (Travel Triangle ) Open
I, Aseem Tiwari, and my wife were looking for Maldives Tour Packages online. We were approached by one of the agents, named "Kkingsman Travels" through Travel Triangle. The salesperson had produced the quote and explained all necessary require...
Sep 01, 2021 by Aseem Tiwari
Refund not initiated (Yatra.com) Closed
I book flight ticket from Delhi to Udaipur through Yatra.com for the date **-April-****.After cancelling the ticket,Yatra.com didn't initiate my refund request.It is still showing the message that 'No refund request for your reference number'.A...
Apr 18, 2020 by Shrawan Vaishnav
Wrong information (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I booked a ticket for **th April **** with Air India from EaseMyTrip although the flight got cancelled and I done the process as told by the company for refunds. Now they are saying I hav'nt cancelled the ticket yet. I am attaching a screenshot...
Apr 18, 2020 by Belal Azmat
My flight from Agartala to bangalore was cancelled due to lockdown *. I contacted Indigo for a refund and they said we will not not provide any refund but we have created a credit shell. So i asked them how to use that credit shell they redirec...
Apr 17, 2020 by Prasenjit Das
Refund holding (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I had booking male to cok to male round trip by indigo flight through easemy trip so my return flight was march * .due to covid ** i called to ease my trip asking for change the date they said its its less than **hrs the flight departure so u c...
Apr 17, 2020 by MOHAMMED ASLAM
Cancelled Flight money not refunded (Ease my trip) Closed
I had booked Flight ticket (BOOKING ID - EMT********) from Ease My Trip application ( Flight Details - Air India flight no #*****. Pantnagar to Dehradun - dated **th Dec **** ). Unfortunately, this flight got cancelled because of bad weather. ...
Apr 13, 2020 by Deepak Bisht
FLIGHT BOOKED BUT CANCELLED FROM AIRPORT AUTHORITY (Ease my trip) Closed
Sir I have booked the flight tickets up dawn between march month **** but covid- ** lock-dawn period all the travels suspended from airport authority , when iwas call to customer care no response no one pick up the calls , ivr is reply cancel...
Apr 09, 2020 by Khaleel ur rahman
REFUND OF AMOUNT Airline PNR JZGCR flight No AI804 (Air india) Closed
I was booked my ticket through udchalo in defence quota for ** Apr ** from Bangalore to Delhi. Due to COVID-** my leave was already cancelled as per instruction received form Govt of India. I am not able to move from Bangalore before ** May **....
Apr 06, 2020 by Ajay Kumar Rakesh
No Full Refund Given for Cancellation of Airline Tickets in Lockdown Period (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Reference No - EMT******** BOM-BBI-BOM Fri - ** Apr **** and return on **-**-**** I had planned my trip for marriage function in Bhuvaneshwar, As the marriage function got cancelled due to the Corona Pandemic across the world and shutdown I h...
Apr 06, 2020 by Prasad Kumar
Complaint against ease my trip (Ease my trip) Closed
I have been following up with ease my trip for cancellation and refund of the flight ticket for days. After several tweet and mail today i got a call from arpit the employee of the same , Throughout the conversation rather than solving my issue...
Apr 01, 2020 by Ashish nanda
Refund status of Air line booking (Yatra.com) Closed
My refund was initiated by the airlines on the **th of March ****. Till date , I have not received my refund in my credit card and I have been charged interest because of late payment of the airline amount which was due. I am getting no respons...
Apr 01, 2020 by Ayman Khalidi
Refund not received even after 3 months (Yatra.com) Closed
My airindia flight got cancelled by airline on ** nov ****, after calling yatra multiple times they finally sent a message on ** Dec **** saying within a week refund of ₹**** will be processed but it's been * months now ,no refund received t...
Mar 31, 2020 by Aashish Sharma
UNETHICAL and UNPROFESSIONAL Business Practice (Make My Trip) Closed
Our family meets up every year during our annual family trip .This year we had booked tickets for Tokyo. I, my wife and my brother were flying from Bengaluru to Tokyo. And, my mom was flying from Mexico to Tokyo. Japan Airlines was planning to ...
Mar 30, 2020 by Apoorv VKRao
Refund not given after rescheduling of flight (Yatra.com) Closed
This is regarding my flight booking with PNR BB*FQJ from shirdi to Delhi ON **.**.**** through SpiceJet. Vide message dated **.**.**** SPICEJET intimated that due to introduction of THEIR summer schedule my flight timmings with above PNRs have ...
Mar 26, 2020 by Vaibhav Madan
Flight ticket refund (Goibibo) Closed
I booked flight ticket from colombo to vancouver for **th march ****, on **th march ****. As there was travel ban for foreigners in canada, i requested for reschedule from Goibibo they agreed and on **th march after flight departure time i got ...
Mar 21, 2020 by Megha Chandrashekar
Flight not cancel timely and my flight timing passed (Ease my trip) Closed
Hi, No customer care is picking up my phone. I want to cancel my flight from Imphal to Delhi on Air India **:** ** March **** with the PNR no Y****. My name is Shijagurumayum Devakanta Sharma and DOB-******** and contact no is **********. B...
Mar 16, 2020 by Shijagurumayum Devakanta Sharma
Cancellation and refund of Go Air flight due to corona virus (Goair) Closed
I have sent this email and called goAir several times on their toll free number as well as their other contact number but I have had no response from them at all. I am looking to cancel my flight due to the corona virus code of conduct and ...
Mar 15, 2020 by Anisha Freitas
Flight not cancel (Ease my trip) Closed
Hi, No customer care is picking up my phone. I want to cancel my flight from Imphal to Delhi on Air India **:** ** March **** with the PNR no Y****. My name is Shijagurumayum Devakanta Sharma and DOB-******** and contact no is **********. B...
Mar 13, 2020 by Devakanta Sharma
Indigo is not fullfiling its commitments and there teams fail to reapond (Indigo) Closed
I booked a return flight on march *th **** for dubai and from march *th **** major advisory are issued for covid** . Indigo flashed message s stating no cancellation charge on any flights booked for *th till **st march. Similarly stated no re...
Mar 10, 2020 by Alka
Cancellation of international flight ticket (Makemytrip.com) Closed
Dear My PNR is UHWHSW. Yesterday (Feb **th) I read the information below in Singapore airlines homepage. From ** February ****, **** hours, all new visitors with recent travel history to Daegu and Cheongdo in South Korea within the...
Feb 29, 2020 by Hyunjun
Refund Not Received (Air India Airlines) Closed
We have Booked the Air Tickets through Air India and cancelled due to Death in our Family. Its been * months we have not received the amount. Reference # is PNR YLB** - EMT ********...
Feb 25, 2020 by Ravishankar AV
"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